A WILDLIFE crime officer is urging members of the public not to interfere with legal traps which play an important part in protecting ground nesting birds.

PC Andy Marsden, who is based in Helmsley, said a number of wildlife traps had been damaged recently on the North York Moors.

Legal traps play an important part in reducing predation of eggs and chicks of ground nesting birds, such as lapwings, curlews and grouse.

Traps such as cage traps, Larsen traps and ladder traps contain a live bird of a “pest species”, which attracts other similar birds that enter the trap and cannot escape.

The species list includes crows, magpies, jays and rooks, and is maintained by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

These traps are legal to use, as long as certain criteria are met, and must contain a perch for the bird, water and food.

They should be checked at least once each day and any birds or animals not on the pest species list must be released unharmed.

PC Marsden said: “It is important that legal traps are not interfered with, as they play a part in reducing the predation of eggs and chicks of ground nesting birds such as lapwings, curlews and grouse, “If you discover one of these traps and you are not certain of its use, please do not take it upon yourself to interfere with it. If you have concerns, photograph the trap in situ, get a GPS location if possible, and contact North Yorkshire Police so we can investigate. We take such reports very seriously, and will take decisive action against people who commit wildlife crime.”

North Yorkshire Police have a number of wildlife crime officers, and a comprehensive wildlife crime resource centre at northyorkshire.police.uk/wildlifecrime

To report a wildlife crime phone 101, select option one and pass information to the Force Control Room.