SHUTTLE/Times and News readers have responded in droves to an article about a Cookley pensioner's garden being ripped apart by a mystery animal.

The damage caused to Wendy Huntley's lawn has been blamed on magpies, squirrels and badgers, with the most common opinion being that one of those creatures was hunting for chafer grubs or larvae of daddy long legs, which live underground.

Habberley resident, Gary Clarke, said: "I thought you might like to know that the same thing happened to us.

"We woke up one morning to the grass being ripped up and blamed the dog for it until we saw squirrels happily digging away at the grass, having lots of fun.

"They were obviously looking for food but working away like a dog looking for a buried bone, making a right mess, like in your photo."

Ray Powell, who runs Kiddermin-ster company Lawn Care Services, said: "It's badgers, crows or magpies after the chafer grub, which comes from the eggs of the chafer beetle."

He added he had seen a lawn in Wolverley that was "20 times worse" than the one featured in last week's issue and said the problem was especially common in the Sutton Park Road area of Kidderminster.

"We've treated so many lawns with this and there is a treatment for it but, in a lot of cases, the lawn needs to be re-seeded," he said.

"There are just so many lawns ripped to pieces because the grubs are at their fattest at this time of year and nice and juicy for the badgers."