NEW maps have been produced showing the extent of bird-of-prey persecution in the Moors and North Yorkshire.

The online maps, published by Defra, have been described by police as "a useful tool in the fight against wildlife crime."

Raptors are protected by law, so anyone harming a nest or bird can be prosecuted for committing a criminal offence.

The new maps have been produced by the Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group and the National Wildlife Crime Unit, and show the location of incidents of shootings, trapping, poisoning and nest destruction across the country for the last five years.

Assistant Chief Constable Amanda Oliver is the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead on wildlife and rural crime. She said: "As the maps show, raptor persecution is a significant national problem.

"That is why we have made tackling it a national priority for wildlife policing. In Forces across the country – and particularly rural Forces like my North Yorkshire - we are determined to use every means at our disposal to tackle offenders and uphold the law relating to our countryside and wildlife."

Inspector Jon Grainge leads North Yorkshire Police’s Rural Taskforce, which is the largest of its kind in the country. He urged anyone who sees traps or suspicious behaviour to report it to the police.

"In North Yorkshire we are lucky enough to have the habitat to support raptors – but that also means that we are a target area for those people who want to persecute birds of prey," he said.

"We have specially-trained wildlife crime officers and we are working very closely with the RSPB, our National Parks and other agencies to combat the problem, but by their very nature these crimes are extremely difficult to police because they generally take place in unpopulated areas, where there is little chance of being noticed.

"We hope these persecution maps will raise public awareness of the problem sites, so that people who visit, work or live in the countryside can help us by staying alert to traps and suspicious behaviour, and reporting it to the police."

The maps can be viewed on the Defra website.