Petersham Meadows has welcomed a different herd of cattle on to its land now that the grazing season has started.

The move comes after a long battle involving the National Trust, Richmond Council and dog walkers, which previously saw an electric fence erected in the meadow.

Under an exclusion order approved by the council, dogs are now banned from the meadows during the grazing season and a temporary fence will be taken down when they leave.

The National Trust has come under fire from users of the meadow and critics said it overreacted to a dog attack on a cow two years ago.

Ward Councillor for Petersham Sir David Williams welcomed the herd to the meadow, but said the fence was unnecessary.

He said: “There has been almost universal feedback that the National Trust has wildly overreacted about the potential danger from dogs, and it has done so for two years.

“It is the dogs that are the problem, not the people or the cattle.”

He also said the National Trust had not maintained the meadow as well as it could have, despite receiving a £500,000 endowment to do so.

Councillor Virigina Morris, cabinet member for the environment, asked dog owners to respect the ban on letting their pets on to the meadow.

She said: “We have worked with the National Trust to agree a solution that safeguards the interests of visitors and users of the meadows and importantly the cows.”

Property manager for the National Trust Naomi Campbell said: “We are delighted to welcome the new herd to Petersham.

"I am sure they will soon become a familiar part of the landscape.”