A DOGWALKER, who stumbled upon a herd of cows chewing on Coke cans in Lacock, has slammed the people responsible after they left around nine black bin bags worth of rubbish in the area.

Elle Mcgregor-Colman of Derry Hill was furious when she stumbled upon the litter while she was walking her dog nine month old Springer Spaniel Poppy along the scenic footpath opposite the River in Lacock on Tuesday afternoon.

"I went over to the fields by Lacock opposite the river with my dog Poppy on Wednesday and there was just tins, bottles and clothes everywhere," the 46-year-old said.

"There was about five black bags full of rubbish left there and when I arrived there was a cow chewing on a can of coke.

"I tried to clear as much as I could away but I had my dog with me and when I left I contacted Lacock Abbey, who apparently sent out a team the next day to pick it up but it is shocking.

"There were things like barbecues and plastic bags in the field as well.

"It is just disgusting. Everyone knows there are cows in that field so why leave stuff there? I have two kids of my own and if I thought they were going out there and doing that I would be horrified."

After hearing the report from Mrs Mcgregor-Colman and another concerned member of the public, staff at Lacock Abbey were spurred into action and went out into the fields on Wednesday, the hottest day of the year, to do their bit.

"We had a report that there was litter in the field and when we saw Elle's message as well, we responded quickly by sending out a group of people to help," National Trust's marketing officer Alison Hoare said. "We removed nine bags of rubbish - it is a shocking amount of litter, especially in a field with cattle.

"The Trust is a conservation charity and we would rather be spending out money on looking after Lacock Abbey and other property in the village than picking up huge amounts of litter left in this way.

"We encourage people to get out into the countryside, especially in the great weather we have had recently, but for the sake of wildlife and everybody else visiting, they should take their litter home."

Since collecting the rubbish, the National Trust has installed signs at the site asking people to take their litter away with them.