BOURNEMOUTH Borough Council is bringing goats to Boscombe to help the town get in trim for the summer season.

The animals will chomp the scrub on the Boscombe over cliff to help restore the natural heathland habitat.

The first three goats arrived on Friday and will eventually be joined by more.

They will be fenced in but will have a large area to roam.

Stuart Clarke, countryside policy officer, said: “We are keen to preserve the natural cliff environment and encourage the native wildlife that lives there including rare plants and animals such as the sand lizard and Dartford warbler.

“Goat grazing is the ideal solution on these steep, inaccessible cliffs.”

The goats are being part-funded by Barratt Homes, the company behind the Honeycombe Beach seafront apartment complex overlooking the town’s new artificial surf reef set to open this autumn.

It is not the first time that Bournemouth Council has used animals to control scrub.

A herd of critically-endangered Shetland cattle are currently chewing away on four Local Nature Reserves in the town helping to manage them.