FOLLOWING reports of suspicious activity in a field in Bristow, four men were detained for alleged poaching offences.

Police officers from Ross-on-Wye’s Safer Neighbourhood Team, accompanied by a county response officer co-ordinated a search of the area on Wednesday, December 4, and found the group of four men along with three dogs and lamping equipment that includes very bright spotlights that are designed to dazzle animals before they are shot or send in the dogs.

The officers immediately seized the vehicle and the lamping equipment. All four men were questioned and have been reported for poaching offences using laws, namely the Night Poaching Act, which dates back to the Georgian era from the early 19th century.