ED CHESTER was just nine years old when he shot his first grey squirrel with an airgun on the family estate. The excited young hunter took his kill straight to the oven and roasted it, devouring his dish despite spilling a bottle of Ribena over the cooked meat.

These days, the chef's tastes have evolved from the sickly-sweet taste of concentrated blackcurrants and he now creates squirrel dishes such as pates and his favourite, squirrel fricassee with leek and wild mushrooms, served up at Otterton Mill in East Devon.

However, the delights of eating a meat which is totally wild have stayed with him and the ethics of tackling a pest by making full use of the meat have grown ever stronger.

Mr Chester, 39, is a staunch supporter of campaigners fighting to encourage red squirrel populations by eradicating their greatest enemy – their grey counterparts. Since they were introduced from America during the late 1800s, the hardier greys have taken over the habitats of the more timid reds, eaten their food and spread the Squirrelpox virus. The disease is deadly to the native species, but leaves the intruders unharmed.

These days, greys are officially classified as vermin and are routinely culled by landowners because of the damage they cause to trees and vulnerable bird life. Mr Chester's approach is that the meat is both free-range and healthy, and should be eaten to create the best solution to the problem.

He would ultimately like to obtain backing from the Prince of Wales, a supporter of conserving native squirrels, and see reds reintroduced to the South West, where they died out at least two decades ago.

He convinced Otterton Mill's owners, Simon and Caroline Spiller, to feature the meat in kebab form as a novelty item at the attraction's apple and game day in October. Demand was so high that the trio have since launched Squirrel Direct, which sells the meat across the country, with a small army of game keepers keeping them in supply.

Perhaps partially because of the novelty factor and partly because of the green credentials, demand has far outstripped supply. The company currently sells about 60 squirrels each week, with about 50 more served in the restaurant. But Mr Chester believes he could easily get through 300.

The approach has attracted interest from TV crews and überchef Heston Blumenthal's production company sourced squirrel through the fledgling business. But Mr Chester rolled his eyes at suggestions he might attract the celebrity mantle. "I came down to Devon for a quiet life," he said.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there has been a backlash from some, on what Mr Chester branded "fluffy" grounds. Threats of a boycott and mild abuse have been hurled at the mill – but they insist business is up on last year, despite the economic climate and the bleak conditions which dominate in January.

Protesters say they are "disgusted" and "appalled" at the thought of the cute creatures which give them so much pleasure ending up on a plate. But, Mr Chester argues, the animal has led a better life than supermarket lamb or beef, which is often intensively reared.

The chef said: "The arguments that have been put forward are by people who feed grey squirrels in their gardens and find them cute and adorable.

"One woman who phoned in to complain cut the conversation short because she had to prepare lamb for lunch. I'm quite prepared to listen to everyone's views, but I won't change my convictions on the strengths of anthropomorphising animals."

The sustainable credentials of squirrel meat eventually won over the initially sceptical Caroline Spiller, co-owner of the mill. A vegetarian since she saw the way animals were treated at a Honk Kong wet (live animal) market, Mrs Spiller said she was initially "surprised" when the idea of serving squirrel was pitched.

But she said: "Once I spoke to Ed and understood the reasons behind it, I became convinced it was the right thing to do. I didn't know much about game meat before working with Ed, but I fully support the fact that it's genuinely sustainable and wild."

Squirrels Direct has won backing from the Countryside Alliance. Its South West director Alison Hawes said the organisation condoned the eating of game, to ensure nothing went to waste.

She said: "There is a group of people who get up in arms about anything fluffy being killed, but they don't bat an eyelid about the thousands of cows which are slaughtered each year because of TB. It's a tendency to conserve what suits them."

In parts of the North, conservation group Save Our Squirrels (SOS) has been quietly culling greys, leading to a significant rise in the number of reds in areas such as Northumberland.

However, from a one-time high of around 3.5 million, the population of the indigenous species is now thought to lie at around 130,000, with around 23,000 in mainland England, compared to estimates of around 5 million greys.

SOS project manager Carrie Nicholson said reintroducing red squirrels to the South West was a "nice idea", but questioned whether it could practically work. The difference is partially one of public support. In the North, where pockets of reds have still survived, the greys are considered to be a pest and there has been little outcry.

"But in the Westcountry, the only squirrel for at least a generation has been the grey. Residents have become accustomed to them and many love them.

"In order to gain permission to reintroduce any species to an area, there must be no threat to their survival. That would mean practically wiping out the population of greys, and ensuring they did not return. It's incredibly difficult, and it would require a phenomenal amount of money and man power. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it would need overwhelming public support."

But she said the impact of greys as a pest meant the meat was still an ethical food source.

However, campaigns elsewhere in the country have fought back at culls of greys. Advocates For Animals has made a case for the conservation for grey squirrels, and political director Libby Anderson said: "The irresponsible demonization of grey squirrels for profit must not be tolerated. Grey squirrels are simply living in the environment in which they were moved to. Let's not forget that initially our indigenous species, the red squirrel, was culled by humans in the 19th century who viewed them as pests – if anyone is to blame for their low numbers perhaps we should first look to ourselves."