A little local trouble

A weekly round-up of rural rumpuses

In Chesterfield, Derbyshire this week police arrested two men suspected of keeping birds of prey illegally after numerous goshawks - alive and dead - were found at their homes. The men were released on bail pending DNA tests on the birds, to establish whether they taken from the wild. The Peak District National Park is one of the few areas in Britain with a flourishing population of goshawks, but at least five nests have been robbed there already this year. Young birds sell for pounds 1,000 on the falconry black market.

This is the season when hunts hold their annual fund-raising hunt balls. Not to be outdone, next week the East Devon Anti-Bloodsports Group is holding its own event: an Anti-Hunt Ceilidh.