Beavers may return to the English countryside for the first time in 500 years following controversial proposals to release several families on the edge of Dartmoor, Devon.

The plan is to tag and monitor them closely in an attempt to restore wildlife on the riverside as they fell nearby trees that block light and stave off current species.

However the move has been met with criticism by those who believe that their habitual felling of trees, building dams and devouring cereals and other produce will make them a nuisance that was happily eradicated in the 15th century.