Residents urged to report hare coursing across Harborough and Lutterworth

Police are urging residents in Harborough and Lutterworth to report hare coursing incidents.

Officers say they expect to see a rise in the practice – which was banned in the UK 18 years ago - over the coming weeks.

Earlier this year rural insurers National Farmers’ Union (NFU) said farmers in Harborough and across the East Midlands felt under ‘siege’ after a dramatic surge in hare-coursing attacks across the region.

Landowners in south Leicestershire and over the Northamptonshire border were regularly targeted by offenders behind the outlawed practice.

Many victims said they had been threatened and abused by hare-coursing gangs who had also caused widespread damage to property and the countryside.

And Leicestershire Police are urging residents to report any concerns so they can clamp down on the crime.

A spokesman said: “Around this time of year we anticipate increased reports of hare coursing so please call us or report issues online so that we can map the true scale of the problem.

“Rural officers across the county will be briefing all response officers over the coming weeks on the impact of hare coursing and powers available to first responders to deal with hare coursing.”

It comes as the NFU revealed rural crime in Leicestershire cost £1.2million last year – making the county the fourth worst affected by cost.

And insurers say they expect to see a rise in incidents following a drop during the pandemic period.