The anger at attempts by bosses at an exclusive tennis club to hush up the culling of a gaggle of geese has been revealed in an excoriating email.

The eight resident Canada geese were shot dead in the early hours at £2,664-a-year St George's Hill Lawn Tennis Club, in Weybridge, Surrey, because of the mess they had made of the 34 courts.

But an email has now revealed the fury of members who were initially told the popular geese were still alive and had simply been moved.

Seema Parikh, a member at the club for 18 years, wrote to directors: 'Even more troubling than the secrecy surrounding the cull is the fact that, when members and local residents began asking why the geese had disappeared, they were told that the birds had been 'rehomed'.

'If the management knew the geese had been killed, that account was plainly untrue. It appears to have been a deliberate attempt to conceal what had happened till the truth emerged from elsewhere.'

She added: 'A young woman at reception told me the geese had been rehomed.

'When I asked whether she was certain, she replied that this was what staff had been told. I then explained my information was that the geese had been culled…she appeared genuinely stunned.'

She said the episode raised 'serious questions about the judgment, integrity and accountability of the CEO and senior leadership'. She also raised the plight of the 'sole survivor of the cull' on July 16, a gosling 'who appears lost and despondent and very much solitary back at the club'. 

A club member said last night: 'If we have senior management endorsing lies being told to both members and staff, then a red line has been crossed.' 

The row is due to be discussed at a board meeting tomorrow amid waning support for CEO Miles Hill at the club on a gated estate with 24-hour security.

Insiders say the geese were popular with members, despite an adult bird producing 2lbs of droppings a day. One online commentator said: 'You'd have thought the club could have afforded to get someone to do a regular clean-up.'

Mr Hill said the cull decision was taken 'on grounds of public health and safety'. Last night the club said it had received 30 responses supporting the cull and 18 voicing 'dissatisfaction'. In a statement Mr Hill, 48, said the cull decision was 'made collectively by the members of the senior team'.

He said the 'rehoming' explanation was given 'to avoid causing unnecessary distress to employees, particularly younger staff.

'The word 'rehomed' was wrong and should not have been used. It placed employees in a difficult position and created a concern about transparency.

'The correct instruction should have been for staff to refer all questions to senior management without offering any explanation.'

He added: 'I do not accept, however, that one communication error, made in an attempt to

protect staff during an unprecedented and highly sensitive situation, establishes a lack of integrity or accountability.'