People living in Camden have welcomed a new family into their neighbourhood this week – a group of pigs.

The latest residents to move into Bath have taken over a plot of land in front of Camden Crescent as part of a clean-up campaign organised by residents and Bath and North East Somerset Council.

The pigs will act as nature's gardeners and eat through the undergrowth and weeds during their two to three-month stay at the site.

During the day, passers-by will be able to look out for the creatures as they move around the land and at night they will shelter in one of the old vaults under the road.

The pigs have been supplied by a local farmer, who has fixed the fencing at the bottom of the site and is responsible for their wellbeing while they are living there.

Last year B&NES Council organised a similar project and a group of pigs were released on to land in Fairfield Park.

A spokesman said: "Residents in Camden Crescent approached the council with the wish that the land in front of the Crescent should be turned back into an open area.

"Following initial work to remove vegetation, the council needed to remove stinging nettles and other roots that if left alone would re-grow resulting in the land becoming overgrown again.

"The most environmentally friendly option was to work with a local farmer and use pigs to eat the roots and remaining vegetation – nothing does this job better than nature itself.

"The council has successfully used this method in Fairfield Park and will consider using pigs on plots of our land that require vegetation clearance in the future."

Information posted by the local authority on its website said the animals should not cause any problems for residents living close by because they were relatively clean and quiet.

It said: "There tends to be very little noise from them, only the occasional low-level grunting that you could hear from a few metres away. The only exception is if they are disturbed or feel threatened by something and may squeal in defence.

"Overall they are very quiet, social animals going back to the wild boar link where they need to be quiet in fear of predators."