VISITORS to Haldon have been asked not to dump pumpkins in the area.

Since Halloween, staff at the forest, which is run by Forestry England, have been finding a lot of discarded pumpkins.

They believe this may be due to information being spread online urging people to leave their unwanted pumpkin lanterns in woodlands for wildlife to eat.

But, Forestry England points out this is incorrect.

A spokesman said: ‘Aside from the fact that Haldon is a Site of Special Scientific Interestt, pumpkins are not part of our natural flora and fauna and would not form part of the normal diet for our wildlife.

'Pumpkins take a long time to decompose and litter our beautiful environment when dumped like this.

‘Whilst they rot down, they can become mouldy which is very harmful to both wildlife and our natural ecosystems.

‘Please respect Haldon and its wildlife and compost your pumpkins at home instead.’