Fourteen stolen pregnant ewes have been safely returned to their Cumbrian farm thanks to a revolutionary marking system.

Hill farmer Pip Simpson, a victim of previous livestock thefts, turned to TecTracer to help protect his flock from criminals targeting isolated farms across the county.

TecTracer is a forensic sheep tracing system developed by John Minary, a former senior police detective, and a Swedish ballistics expert. It uses raddles to ingrain thousands of coded markers into a sheep’s fleece, marking them with a unique identifying code which makes it easy to trace which farm the sheep originated from.

Signs advertising the identification process positioned around farm buildings and fields, combined with an e-alert early warning system linked to the police, farms, abattoirs and auction houses, the system has been dubbed 'Operation Bo Beep'.

As soon as Mr Simpson discovered the loss of the 14 ewes, worth £2,500, he alerted the system's team which lead to the sheep being soon returned under cover of darkness, but to a different field.

Mr Minary said: “Over the years, Pip has been one of the many victims of rural crime, having his livestock stolen by targeted criminals.

“The financial anxiety of having his sheep stolen led him to take extreme measures, including dying his entire flock orange. This, however, was only a temporary solution, as the dye soon came out resulting in Pip turning to TecTracer.

“The point of TecTracer is to make livestock too hot handle. In this case, the thieves clearly realised soon after taking the ewes that with our network of contacts from police to local farms, paired with the unique marking and the social media coverage, the only option was to return the ewes.

He added: “The system brings a step change in the fight against the pernicious crime. Ear tags can be cut out, but TecTracer remains within the fleece, effectively identifying the sheep.”

Mr Simpson said: “I am absolutely over the moon at the effectiveness of the TecTracer system. Had I not protected my flock with it, I fear I would never have seen them again."