Plans to gas thousands of rabbits in a Mid Wales town have been put on hold by civic leaders after an outcry from residents.

Welshpool Town Council said it would explore every other way of managing the problem in the Maesydre Playing Fields before resorting to gassing the animals – starting with garlic repellents placed around the pitch.

Robert Robinson, town clerk, said: “The rabbits have been eating the grass down to the roots on the sports pitches, creating divots and holes and it has resulted in two sporting injuries.

“We have got to look at this for insurance reasons as much as anything else.

“We’ve had a ferret man down there collecting rabbits but there’s just too many of them.

“I think the problem is countrywide but we need to do something before it gets even worse.”

Last night Councillor Ann Holloway said she was against any form of gassing and many residents had complained to her about the plans.

She said: “We should not gas. At the committee meeting I said we shouldn’t. I stand by it. We should look at every possible angle before resorting to gassing.

“People in the town are up in arms about it.”

Councillor John Corfield added: “People have been coming up to me very upset about it. They don’t want them gassed.”

Councillors agreed to speak to a professional company about the problem and ask Powys County Council about managing nearby land.

Councillor Phil Pritchard said he wanted the families in the town who own ferrets to head down to the playing fields to help solve the problem.

“We need to ensure families who own ferrets know they can take their ferrets down to the local playing field and let them out and see if it can help,” he said.

“If we all band together in this, together with the garlic system, hopefully we can work towards beating it.

“However, I do not believe we should rule out gassing – we should keep that in there as a last resort just in case everything else fails.”

By Andrew Morris