Deborah Beattie du Preez, 36, originally from Aberdeenshire, said that she had been vilified by local people after acting as an interpreter for the British entrepreneurs behind the £2.5m project.

The killing of her miniature horse, which was kidnapped, disembowelled and then dumped in a field, followed a series of attacks on other pets.

“How could they do that to a defenceless animal less than a metre high?” said du Preez, 36, who moved four years ago to the outskirts of Théhillac, a picturesque village of 530 people near the River Vilaine. Some 20 other Britons also own homes in the area.

“How can I live in a place where there are people around who behave like that? I have three children and I am a single mum. I would not say that I am scared but I am certainly not relaxed about the situation.”

The attack, which is being investigated by gendarmes, has raised concern about rising levels of animosity towards the growing numbers of British people who have settled in Brittany, which is home to militant separatist groups.

Du Preez’s problems appear to stem from her association with a British company, Chateau du Moulin Roul, which is behind plans to build an 18-hole golf course plus a luxury hotel and homes on 300 acres at Théhillac and the neighbouring village of St Dolay.

After applying for planning permission, two of the firm’s directors — Jon Griffiths and Philip Heaney — agreed to outline their proposals at a meeting in the village as part of a month-long public inquiry. Du Preez, who speaks fluent French, said that she would interpret.

During the meeting she tried in vain to explain to a rowdy minority of critics that the scheme would mean hotel jobs for local women and work on the golf course for young men with agricultural skills.

The critics were not convinced, however, claiming that the course would be too exclusive and the green fees too expensive for locals. One farmer interrupted proceedings by crying “Brittany for the Bretons” and “The land here is only for people who were born here.”

As part of the company’s charm offensive, du Preez also organised a fest-noz, a traditional Breton party. Signs put up by the roadside advertising the party were daubed with Breton independence party signs while du Preez claimed that teenagers threw stones and screamed “Your mother is a bitch” at her 13-year-old son.

“Some of the guests appeared to enjoy themselves, dancing and entering into the spirit of things, but others were just there to cause trouble,” she said.

It was the next morning when she found the horse, lying on its side in the field she uses a few miles from her home. “One of his ears had been cut off and his belly had been slit open and his insides had been removed,” she said. “There was no sign of his insides and there was no blood near his body, so clearly he had been taken away during the night and killed and then returned to his field.”

Du Preez said it was not the first such attack she had suffered: last year another of her ponies was killed with a bolt gun. Two of her dogs had also died; a vet who examined them said they had been poisoned.

A local police official said several suspects had been questioned over the attack. “We will get results and find the person or persons responsible for these cruel acts,” he said.

“We are taking into consideration the fact that Deborah has worked as an interpreter for the people who are planning to build a golf course at Théhillac and that there is some opposition to the scheme.”

Du Preez said she had also been visited by an officer from Renseignements Généraux, the French intelligence service, who warned her that a cell of militant Breton nationalists was active in the area.

Michel Denoual, the mayor of Théhillac, praised the golf course which he said would provide jobs for 200 people. Asked whether British residents were popular with the locals, he replied: “There are certain British people who don’t speak any French even though they have lived here for years.

“The majority of British residents are quite popular.

There does seem to be a hard core of locals who are anti-British, but they are not in a majority.”

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Science News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Infertile couples to be made an NHS priority
• Sharp fall in number of GCSE entries
• Britain has more pensioners than children