Operations manager Lesley Currie, 42, was walking her dog in the woodland near Brackmills on Sunday, September 28 when she noticed the rubbish, and the dead calf, had been dumped in a clearing.

Mrs Currie, who lives near Hackleton, said she contacted police who then told her to call Northampton Borough Council to have the animal and debris taken away, but one week and numerous phone calls later, the corpse was still there.

She said: "I rang again on Tuesday and they said they couldn't find it, but when I gave them my contact details and said to call if they needed help they didn't.

"On Wednesday I rang again and sent an email with the details and they said there was no record of my calls so on Thursday I called again and spoke to environmental health.

"They then told me they weren't able to take the animal away and they would come on Friday but I walked my dog there on Friday evening and it was still there."

She said: "This shows complete disrespect for the animal and there will be environmental health issues as well with it lying there rotting."

Simone Wade, head of neighbourhood environmental services, said: "This was a despicable act and I would like to apologise for the delay in getting this animal removed.

"It is saddening to think that people would leave a dead animal in a public place, but unfortunately parks, being open spaces, are often targets for illegal dumping. Unfortunately the removal of this animal has taken us longer than we would have liked due to new laws laid down by the Government.

"We must use a specialist contractor to remove the dead animal and once again the tax payer is left to pick up the bill.

"We are working towards having the animal removed by end of business on Tuesday."