DOG walkers have discovered several dead ducks in a popular nature park and are concerned that they may have been shot.

Liz Helliwell was walking in Spindleberry Park, Blackbird Leys, last Friday when her dog found the four duck corpses near the pond in a stretch of long grass.

She said: “They looked like they had been killed the day before and they had blood on their heads and feathers as if they had been shot.

“Whoever did it, it’s not a good thing to leave lying around near other animals and children.”

The duck corpses have since been removed and the incident has been reported to the police, who are investigating.

Ms Helliwell, who walks her dogs in the park and feeds the ducks regularly, has noticed a stark lack of wildlife ever since the incident.

The 73-year-old, who lives in Kestrel Crescent, said: “I am used to seeing 30-40 ducks on the pond as well as herons and moorhens but a few days this week I haven’t seen any.

“The one time I did see a pair of ducks they swam away from me very fast, as if they were scared.

“It is such a shame, it is part of the life of the Leys to walk around the park and feed the ducks and this has been spoilt by some criminal.

“It’s the first time I have ever heard about anything like this happening and to see the pond empty is deeply sad.”

Last year the RSPCA called for stricter rules after airgun attacks on animals hit a five-year high.

The animal charity said 42 ‘airgun incidents’ were reported in Oxfordshire in the past five years.

Wild birds were involved in the majority of calls, closely followed by cats.

The charity said hundreds of animals have been subjected to ‘horrible amounts of pain and suffering’ and called for it to be made illegal for anyone to own an airgun without a licence and for more training to be introduced.

Sergeant Neil Applegarth, the head of the Blackbird Leys Neighbourhood Team for Thames Valley Police, confirmed that his PCSOs had received a call following concerns about ducks being shot.

He said the force was trying to establish a cause of death and was liaising with the council’s parks department to investigate what had happened.

Gordon Roper, the chair of the Parish Council, said he had not heard about the incident but expressed surprise at what had apparently taken place.

He said: “I have never heard of anything like this happening before.

“I know some people like to fish in that pond but they always put them back.

“It’s unheard of for anybody to shoot a duck in the park.”