Country Diary

Harvest should be a time of celebration — but in deepest rural Suffolk it means the arrival of criminal gangs intent on illegal hare coursing

- Richard Negus

The buzzing started in late July. By mid-August my local Farm Watch WhatsApp group was working my mobile phone into a vibrating frenzy. As soon as the combine harvesters roll, so do the criminals.

Suffolk has one of the lowest crime rates in Britain, but that all changes at this time of year. It is a rural, farming county that is home to diverse flora and fauna. It is the fauna that attracts the criminals, in particular the hares that abound here.

As soon as the crops come off the fields, teams of criminals and their lurchers arrive from Kent, Sussex, Surrey and even as far as Wales. I think it is important to avoid the word poachers, as this imbues these individuals with an aura of romanticism they ill deserve.