POLICE have received reports of increased poaching activity across rural Hampshire.

Poaching reports have come in from villages near Winchester including Sutton Scotney, Hinton Ampner, Micheldever, Chilton Candover, Preston Candover, Colemore and East Tisted.

At Micheldever a 51-reg Suzuki Vitara was spotted hare coursing and the vehicle was found abandoned in woodland the following day.

Apart from the poaching offences, in most of these locations, extensive damage has been done to crops, fields, boundary hedges or fences, gates and padlocks.