LLANDUDNO’s Ysgol San Sior has been plagued with goats from the Great Orme getting onto the school field and infecting children with ticks.

The problem is sufficiently serious for parts of the school’s playing field to be put out of bounds to pupils.

Head teacher Ian Keith Jones said: “We are concerned at the number of instances of children getting ticks which we believe come from the goats on the Great Orme.

“They frequently leap over the six feet high wall we have around the school and go on the playing field.

“Last year there were at least 20 instances of goats getting onto the field and now we are trying to keep track of the number of times they get onto the field and to relate that to children getting ticks. There is an obvious health and safety dimension to this, and it's very worrying.”

He added: “I’ve had to limit pupil’s access to parts of the school field because of the possibility of children getting ticks.”

Ian added: My first job every morning is to check whether any goats on the field and if there are to chase them away.

"We put great emphasis on being environmentally friendly and teach our children about the importance of nature, and as part of this we've been growing fruit trees which have been damaged by the goats who eat the young saplings."