HORRIFIED neighbours have spoken of their outrage after geese were shot dead and their bodies left lying in a golf course lake just yards from their homes.

Between seven and eight Canada Geese were found dead in the lake at Bransford Golf Course, near Worcester, yesterday morning after neighbours heard shots the previous evening.

However, a spokesman for the Bank House Hotel and Golf Club, which manages the course, said they had given permission for the birds, designated as “vermin”, to be shot in case their poo got on golf balls and that the incident was not “particularly of note”.

The manager, who declined to be named, said if a golf ball landed in bird faeces it had to be played or cleaned which was “unhygienic” and was “grim” for people playing on the course.

Lyn Kirby, aged 69, of Chapel Lane, Bransford, which lives yards from the course made the grisly discovery while walking her Yorkshire terrier cross Jack Russell, Bertie.

She said: “I felt sickened. The geese have been there since we have been here in 1980 - it’s one of their natural feeding grounds.”

Mrs Kirby also claims she found a double barrelled shotgun with a night sight on the course three weeks ago, handing it in at the golf course clubhouse, which the club is now looking into.

She said: “My first reaction was ‘what happens if a child gets hold of it?’ There’s no way I could go off and leave that lying in the grass.”

She did not phone police but her neighbours have reported the incident.

Neighbour, 59-year-old Kevin Garrington, said: “I’m a bit horrified this happened on our doorstep.

“I have counted seven dead geese. I’m concerned about the dangers to people who live here. If someone had been innocently walking across there or with their dog they could have been hit.”

Mr Garrington estimated he lived between 40 and 50 yards from the lake.

His wife, animal-lover Jennifer, was also disgusted.

“We already spend time dodging golf balls when golfers tee off without having to worry about stray bullets,” she said.

“They could at least have taken the bodies out of the water.”

A spokesperson for the RSPB said although the birds were protected it was legal to shoot them during the open season between September 1 and January 31 next year if someone has a gun sports shooting licence.

A spokesman for the hotel said: “We have given permission and it takes place here quite regularly. It’s how we control the Canada Geese here.

“There are a number of Canada Geese which are designated as vermin by the people who determine these things. It’s not us who determines them as vermin.

“The way to control them is to shoot them. It’s the mess from their faeces that is pretty grim. It’s unhygienic.

“We would literally end up with hundreds of the things here if we didn’t control their numbers.

“It’s nothing particularly of note for us.”

However, he said it would “massively concern” him if a shotgun had been handed in which was found on the course and he said he had been contacting other managers to see if this was true.

“That is not something we would take lightly in the slightest,” he added.