Labourer felled tree containing active goshawk nest

Goshawks are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (stock image)

A labourer who cut down a tree containing a bird of prey's nest has been ordered to pay £100 to the RSPB.

Gloucestershire Police was called to an estate on the outskirts of Gloucester on 5 June, following reports a Goshawk nest had been destroyed.

The man admitted he had felled the tree without checking for any nests, the force said.

The RSPB said Goshawk nests were "huge and obvious" and "this was the only tree in the wood to be felled".

Goshawks are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act and any intentional disturbance of a nest that is either being built or containing eggs or young is illegal.

'Only tree'

A spokesman for Gloucestershire Police said the man had "unknowingly destroyed a bird of prey nest" and it was an "act of recklessness" but it had been dealt with by way of "restorative justice".

"He attended for a voluntary interview and was ordered to pay a £100 donation to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds," he said.

"A condition was also put into place which allowed Gloucestershire Raptor Monitoring Group to access the site so that they can monitor the existing birds of prey, monitor active nests and put cameras up to protect bird of prey habitats."

But a spokesman for the RSPB, said: "Goshawk nests are huge structures and the contents of the nest would be equally obvious.

"It appears that this was the only tree in the wood to be felled and then completely removed at a time when it contained an active goshawk nest.

"Raptor persecution is a national wildlife crime priority, and the goshawk is a priority species."