A serial killer of rabbits has struck fear into the hearts of the people of a picturesque French village on the north Brittany coast.

More than 100 animals have fallen victim to the mystery killer since he or she began their murderous spree in and around the village of Minihy-Tréguier, a pretty spot popular with tourists and home to a handful of British expats.

"The village is gripped by fear," Jean-Yves Fenvarc'h, the mayor of the village of 1,300 people, told the Telegraph.

The killer sneaks into people's gardens, removes the rabbits from their hutches, kills them with a sharp object or by simply crushing them with his foot, and then leaves their dead bodies where they died.

The rabbits he kills are often kept by elderly people who house them in their gardens, sometimes alongside chickens or geese.

“He (the killer) never touches the chickens or the geese,” said Mr Fenvarc'h.

The mayor said the attacks, which now number 15 in total, began in March, then eased off before starting again in August, and then, after another lull, resumed earlier this month.

What makes the situation particularly scary, he said, was the fact that the killer sometimes returns to the scene of a crime to kill again.