WOODLAND wildlife is under a new threat - rapidly increasing deer numbers - the British Trust for Ornithology says in its annual report published this week.

By damaging trees and other plants, deer are threatening mammal and bird life, according to the British Ecological Society.

"Many people now regard deer as the main threat to British woodland," says the BTO.

This new warning comes at a time when many country people are alarmed at a huge surge in the rabbit population, which bred like wildfire this summer in areas where sheep and cattle have been culled - leaving the rabbits with no competitors for grazing.

It is estimated that seven rabbits eat as much as a sheep but they also cause widespread damage by undermining walls, hedgerows and - in extreme cases - even railway embankments.