A SERIOUS case of sheep worrying has left a Lake District farmer at his wit's end as walkers repeatedly refuse to keep their dogs on leads.

David Arnold, who farms at Keen Ground Farm, Hawkshead, returned from hospital in Liverpool to find two sheep seriously hurt by dog attacks, and others scattered and scared.

This incident followed a number of others every year, with Mr Arnold reporting losses of 'between half a dozen and a dozen sheep each year' due to worrying.

Mr Arnold said: "I found one sheep on its back end and its back legs had been chewed at. Then I found another one that was a right mess.

"I walked round the corner and there was a gate that the sheep had run into and smashed through. They had come from fields where there are footpaths. I noticed more sheep were in fields that they shouldn't have been.

"There had obviously been a lot of a to do. They had been chased and chased and they were very shaken up.

Mr Arnold believes that a key part of the sheep worrying problem is that dog owners to not understand the impact that letting a dog off the lead around sheep can have.

"If you try and tell some people to put their dog on a lead they just swear at you. Just because they think there are no sheep in one field they let their dogs run wild. But what about the next field?

"Every time I speak to them I feel like they will think I am a grumpy old farmer but I see what the aftermath of dogs being loose is.

"These two sheep need to be put in a paddock on their own now and have to have injections for the bites. Their legs are swollen up and they can hardly walk."

With more than 21 signs on his lands asking dog owners to keep their pets on leads, and repeated failed attempts to reason with some dog walkers, Mr Arnold is running out of ideas for how to solve the issue.

"I just don't know what the answer is. It is the owners' fault, not the dogs'," he said.