UNWELCOME intruders have been ploughing more than a furrow or two in Carhampton's historic churchyard.

A pair of escapee pigs from an adjoining paddock have been wreaking havoc, churning up the land and graves.

Near neighbour Helen Duffy said the pigs had broken through several times in the past week and she described the aftermath of their snaffling antics as a scene of devastation.

"It's heartbreaking," said Mrs Duffy. "The churchyard looks just like a ploughed field.

"The first time they got in last Saturday, a group of people managed to get them back into the paddock.

"But they've just come back, again and again. They've made the most awful mess and it's very upsetting, especially for people with family graves there.

"One grave, which is only about a year old, has been quite badly churned up.

"We have a beautiful churchyard, which volunteers help to look after and work very hard to keep it looking nice.

"Something like this is just not acceptable."

Mrs Duffy said the police and the RSPCA had been contacted but neither organisation had been able to help with the problem.

On Tuesday the area was visited by officials from Defra.

The pigs are understood to belong to local parish councillor Geoff Armstrong, who could not be contacted by the Free Press.

The Rev Michael Allso, assistant priest to the Dunster Benefice, which includes Carhampton, accepted that local people were unhappy about the situation but there was little that could be done.

"As I understand it, under English law the responsibility is on the owner of any land to fence it - in other words, we should fence the churchyard to keep the pigs out, rather then the owner of the pigs being responsible for keeping them in.

"Carhampton has one of the largest churchyards in Somerset and it would be totally impossible to try and fence it."

Mr Allso said it was an exaggeration to say the area resembled a ploughed field: "There is some isolated damage but I don't think it is quite as bad as some people are saying."

He said he had "faced up" to the pigs on one of the occasions they had strayed over the church border - "but they just laughed at me".