Three poaching suspects were tracked down and arrested after a call from a member of the public.

Officers, who were in the area as part of a pre-planned rural crime operation, were called to Broomfield Lane, Mattersey Thorpe, at 10.42pm yesterday 29th (Wednesday) when an unauthorised 4x4 vehicle was spotted in a field.

The vehicle had become stuck and was abandoned by its occupants, who left behind two dead rabbits and a knife.

Three men, aged 22, 18 and 18, were arrested on suspicion of wildlife offences and being in possession of a bladed article.

The older man was also detained on suspicion of cannabis possession.

All three remain in custody as investigations continue.

Additional officers had been in the area as part of an ongoing operation to tackle crimes in rural communities.

In a successful night for the Bassetlaw Neighbourhood policing team, another robbery suspect was arrested in Harworth on behalf of Leicestershire Police after a car was traced to the area.

He too remains in police custody.

Inspector Hayley Crawford, district commander for Bassetlaw, said: “We understand the impact offences of this nature have on our farmers and other members of the rural community, which is why we have devoted additional resources to tackling all forms of rural crime.

“As part of this work we have been urging people living in rural areas to contact us immediately if they spot anything suspicious. This is exactly what happened yesterday and led directly to the arrest of three suspects. I’d like to thank my officers in Reacher and those from Operational support for their on-going work to tackle rural crime across Bassetlaw”

Chief Inspector Clive Collings, our rural and wildlife crime lead, said: “Local farmers and landowners have repeatedly shared their concerns with us about this issue and I hope this demonstrates our ongoing commitment to listening to them and acting upon what we are told.

“We understand that the impact of these offences is measured not only in harm to animals, but often in serious damage to crops.

“In response we are now regularly deploying additional officers to rural areas overnight, so anyone engaged in this type of activity now runs a very significant risk of coming face-to-face with a police officer and spending time in our cells.”