Warning for Tynedale countryside criminals
Travelling criminals who use the cover of darkness to prey on rural areas of Northumberland have been warned that police are on their trail.
Poachers, burglars and other lawbreakers who commit crimes in the countryside are being urged to take heed of a recent successful operation by Northumbria Police, which netted five offenders in Tynedale.
Hexham-based police officers were carrying out patrols in the Colwell village area when they caught the men with lurcher dogs and lamping equipment on land where they didn't have the required permission to be.
They were arrested, taken to court earlier this month and pleaded guilty to poaching offences. They were given fines of up to ã200 each, and one defendant had his lamping equipment confiscated by police. Northumbria Police says officers in rural Northumberland are working closely with landowners and farmers to tackle those who come in from outside the area to commit crime in the countryside.
Gamewatch and Farmwatch schemes have been set up in the county in a bid to protect livestock and property from the clutches of criminals - and tackle an upsurge in offences of poaching and rustling.
West Tynedale neighbourhood inspector Dave Thornhill said: "We support and work closely with the farming communities here in Northumberland. We listen to their concerns about the illegal activities of poachers and their worries about those that travel from outside the area to commit crime."
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