'I'm seeing hare coursing on my farm every week'

Harvey Moseley is an arable farmer near Newport in Shropshire

An arable farmer has said he is seeing hare coursers on his land in Shropshire every single week.

It comes as West Mercia Police issued an urgent notice highlighting there had been a "significant increase" in hare coursing in the county.

The pursuit of hares by dogs is illegal, and can also cause damage to farmers' fields.

Harvey Moseley, 28, said he was "forever seeing [hare coursers'] vehicles around the place", adding they were "driving on fields, pushing through gateways, pushing through hedges" and causing damage to his farmland near Newport.

As an arable farmer, Mr Moseley's farm has plenty of wide open fields - making it, he said, a prime location for hare coursing.

It was, he said, "very frustrating" to see the trail of destruction left behind by the trespassers.

Wheels crushing crops were "the biggest problem", he said, adding that his farm had also seen "locks and chains cut on gateways" by hare coursers.

"I planted some new hedging a month ago, and that got flattened pretty quickly by vehicles driving through it," Mr Moseley explained.

"They'll push through anything if they want to get into a field."

Sgt Richard Jones said local people can help by reporting suspected hare coursing to the police

The number of brown hares in the UK is declining - with less than half a million estimated to be left in England.

Hare coursing was made illegal in 2004 under the Hunting Act, and under 2022 legislation it is punishable by an unlimited fine and up to 6 months in prison.

Sergeant Richard Jones from West Mercia Police said rural residents and farmers should "look out for suspicious vehicles" and report their registration plates, but urged them not to approach suspected hare coursers.

"Sometimes we'll get lucky and catch them in the act, sometimes we'll get a report [from the public] which we'll act upon," he said.

Sgt Jones added that hare coursing could be "demoralising" for rural communities.

"These are people coming here to carry out an illegal act, and kill a beautiful animal," he said.

For Mr Moseley, it takes a toll on farmers like him who are having to deal with hare coursers day in, day out.

He recalled cycling home after spending 15 hours on a combine harvester and spotting hare coursers in one of his fields.

"I think there's better things for them to be doing," he said.

"You're on other people's land - it's illegal, you shouldn't be there."