High-tech drones used to disrupt hare coursing in Thames Valley

Police forces across the country are increasingly turning to technology in the fight against crime, and the use of high-performance drones is giving rural officers in the Thames Valley an edge over hare coursers.

Covering large areas of farmland across Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire is a huge challenge for Thames Valley Police (TVP) and its rural crime taskforce.

With the hare coursing season under way, the rural crime team is using two drones to target people who trespass across bare fields to hunt hares with dogs, often causing significant damage to the soil, hedges and gateways.

See also: Fears of post-Covid rural crime surge as cost claims