Britain’s ambassador to Austria has generally been given a warm welcome, but a local wild boar appeared to have little time for diplomatic niceties. Leigh Turner, who took up the post last August, has revealed that while walking in woods near Vienna earlier this month, he was chased by a “massive” specimen and sustained minor injuries.

Turning a corner, Turner found himself face-to-face with a group of “four or five hulking adults and countless piglets”. He turned and walked away slowly. “Moments later I hear a noise behind me like a galloping horse, and turn to see a massive wild boar, head down, charging straight at me,” Turner recounted on his blog.

Turner tried to escape by climbing a pile of tree trunks, but slipped on the wet wood, scratching and bruising himself in the process.

“By the time I turned round, the boar [no doubt thinking, ‘That’s got rid of that swine’] had trotted back to join the rest of the group, which was melting back into the forest,” he said. “All my minor injuries were self-inflicted: the boar never made contact.”