Land in a quiet village has been severely damaged due to hare coursing.

The area in Ulting was the scene of an incident where a group of suspects released the dogs to chase hares in a field.

The total cost of the damage following the incident amounted to just under £5,000.

In another incident suspects also drive over wheat crops in Ulting, causing further damage to the area.

Pc Andy Long, Essex Police rural and heritage crime officer said hare coursing is an issue officers are constantly battling in order to save the habitats of the hares and to reduce the damage on farmers’ land in Maldon district and the rest of the county.

He said: “We have plans in place to tackle the issue and we treat it is a crime in progress.

“We know it is not just a couple dogs chasing hares around, there are many other issues such as criminal damage to property and anti-social behaviour which are involved in crimes such as these.

“The gypsy, traveller and rural engagement team will work with other teams dealing with hare coursing and rural crime.

“We respond to it wherever is it in the county. We also have regional days of action and officers use ANPR to be informed when incidents are ongoing.”

Essex Police chair the regional hare coursing group which is dedicated to stopping hare coursing across the south east.

Pc Long himself is the chairman of the committee which discusses specific issues it faces and their policy for tackling hare coursing.

Essex Police also works with other forces as part of Operation Galileo, a national operation to combat hare coursing.

Pc Long said: “Essex Police chairs the regional hare coursing group and I am the chairman of that group.

“We discuss the problems we have and as a region decide what actions we should take against the issue.

“Some regions do take dogs away due to hare coursing, we do not do that as it is expensive but also it is not the fault of the dog, it is the owner.

“We also know the animal has go to a new owner and sometimes that can be difficult too.

“Because we do not always talk about it publicly, sometimes people think we are not doing anything about hare coursing, but we are in fact always working to tackle the problem.”

Officers currently aim directly at specific hotspots for hare coursing in the Dengie and Uttlesford.

Due to its targeted operations on the issue, the force saw the number of incidents that were reported by people in Essex increased by around 90.

Between October 1 2017 and September 30 2018, the number of reported incidents of hare coursing was 461.

In the same period from 2016 to 2017, there were only 363.

Pc Long added: “We encourage farmers and business owners that if they arrive in the morning and find there has been serious damage to their land due to hare coursing, they should report it straight away.”

If you have any information relating to any incidents of suspect hare coursing, call 101 or report it on crimestoppers-uk.org.