The mystery of carcasses left dumped in woodland has been solved after fears the popular playing spot was becoming a health hazard.

Dog walker Anita Sillick, of Keyes Road, Dartford, was shocked after coming across raw meat and bones at the Enchanted Woodland in Temple Hill.

Park rangers were alerted but the offerings kept appearing.

She feared the area was fast becoming a health hazard – posing a risk to children and other dogs – and that vermin would hunt for meaty scraps.

But after walking down to the woodland on Sunday, she met a man carrying plastic bags who admitted he had left the carcasses for foxes to feast on.

Ms Sillick said the man, who works in a butcher’s shop, was “close to tears” when learning her dog was ill after carrying a huge bone in his mouth and he agreed to stop leaving meat.

She said: “He said he never thought about it from that point of view.

“He was close to tears, he works in a butchers and said he didn’t want the meat going to waste.

“He has a genuine interest in animals; every day he buys two loaves of bread to feed the swans in the reservoir.

“Where I was going round clearing up the bigger bits, he thought they were being eaten so put more down there.

“He said he wouldn’t want to hurt any animals. He was coming from a good place. I’m just so glad I can take my dogs back there.”

The mystery meat came to the attention of the Temple Hill Trust, which has maintained the three-and-a-half-acre site at the Temple Hill Estate since 1996.

Project manager Debbie Fryer said she wanted to see the dumping of meat stopped for fear it could put off dog walkers.

She said: “It would be helpful if these people didn’t leave meat. The foxes go mad for it and the dogs do as well. We have many dog walkers who use the woodlands for leisure purposes and it is just anti-social behaviour to leave it lying around.”

A Dartford council spokesman said the carcasses were not brought to the attention of its environmental health department.