Two sheep have had to be put down after they were mauled in a suspected dog attack in a field on Romney Marsh.

In all four sheep were injured in the incident which occurred on a small-holding at Eighteen Acre Lane near Old Romney on Thursday.

Donna Walker-Hudson, who is from Lydd, says she broke down in tears after seeing the horrific injuries sustained by the animals belonging to her step-father Chris Weller.

She said: "He's got a small-holding of 72 sheep, and obviously we've just done three months of lambing so our numbers are up quite a lot on those, and we have got our sheep in various fields across the Marsh.

"He went out and was greeted by not all of the sheep coming, now if you go into a sheep field with a bucket they're all going to chase you, but these sheep didn't.

"So he knew there was something wrong.

"The vet came out at 9am on Friday morning and she was horrified, she says it was definitely a dog that had done it before, knew what it was doing.

"Two of our sheep had to be put to sleep. Keep your animals away from livestock."

Under the Animals Act 1971, anyone acting to protect livestock may kill or injure a dog they reasonably believe is 'worrying' without incurring any criminal or civil liability.

As a dog's owner, or a person in charge of a dog, you could be committing an offence if the animal worries livestock on agricultural land.

Worrying includes attacking or chasing livestock in a way that might reasonably be expected to cause injury or suffering or loss.

A police spokesman said: "Officers from Kent Police's rural crime team have been made aware of an incident where two sheep died following a suspected dog attack near Old Romney on Thursday, May 26.

"The rural crime team urge all dog owners walking in the countryside to keep their dogs on leads around any livestock, to follow signs and stick to footpaths to make your walk safe for all."