A GAMEKEEPER from Pickering has been charged by police for the illegal use of cage traps to capture a buzzard.

The man, who has not yet been named, was arrested by North Yorkshire Police in October after a live buzzard had been found trapped inside a cage trap feeding on a pigeon.

A second smaller cage trap, containing a live pigeon was found nearby.

The gamekeeper was charged with six offences against the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and the Animal Welfare Act 2006, and has been bailed to attend Scarborough Magistrates Court next month.