Red squirrels are said to be threatened by the grey squirrel

Grey squirrels compete for food with the red squirrels and can carry a virus which kills them.

Aberdeen councillors are to be asked to approve a plan from the Forestry Commission and Grampian Squirrel Group for trapping and destroying them.

However one animal protection group said the plan was "little more than ethnic cleansing".

Under threat

Aberdeen has an isolated population of grey squirrels, but they are spreading north and west towards the Highlands - and the area's red squirrels.

Grey squirrels can carry the parapox virus which does not affect them but is highly contagious and often fatal to reds.

The proposal is to trap the greys on Aberdeen's boundaries before they can get further.

A report to go before councillors states: "The total estimated annual cost of the programme at current grey squirrel population levels is �8,000.

"There is concern nationally that the population of red squirrel in the Highlands are particularly at threat as currently there are no records of grey squirrels in that area.

"But the population in Aberdeen is spreading north and west along the Dee and Don valleys.

It is over-simplistic and misleading to claim that grey squirrels are to blame for the decline in red squirrel numbers Ross Minett Advocates for Animals

"Around 20 trapping sites would be initially targeted."

However animal protection group Advocates for Animals said it opposed the cull of any healthy grey squirrels.

Group director Ross Minett said: "Culling is, of course, simply a media-friendly term for slaughter.

"This is little more than ethnic cleansing.

"It is over-simplistic and misleading to claim that grey squirrels are to blame for the decline in red squirrel numbers.

"We will be contacting Aberdeen City Council and urging councillors to oppose any proposals for a mass slaughter of these beautiful animals."

Dundee already runs a similar programme to control its grey squirrel numbers.