War has been declared by Aldenham Parish Council on the grey squirrels of Fir Spring Wood.

At their meeting on Tuesday, the council were told that it appeared the only way to exterminate them was by shooting. The snag was that the council has a byelaw forbidding guns to be fired on this particular piece of land.

Mr J.T. Burrell, who said he was against the killing of any kind of animals himself, suggested the byelaw could be suspended for the one purpose of ridding the place of squirrels.

The animals were a “pest” said Mr C.J. Beaumont, who moved that the byelaw in question should be suspended for the duration of a properly organised shoot. This was agreed.

Chairman Mr C.S. Brown, who expressed sympathy with the squirrels, said he would “jolly well laugh” if the shoot was a failure.

[From the Watford Observer of January 24, 1958]

For more stories from the Watford Observer's archive, go to our Nostalgia section by clicking HERE