Dorset Police Rural Crime Team are appealing for information after 29 sheep and a ram were stolen from a field near Middlemarsh, Sherborne.

Taken some time between Friday, January 3 at 4pm and Saturday, January 4, the stolen sheep are Suffolk crosses and Dorset ewes and the ram was a Texel ram.

The ewes were wearing ear tags with flock numbers UK340591 and UK349650 and the ram was from flock number UK328623.

The Crime Team are asking anyone in the area during that time period that may have seen anything suspicious, any vehicles with livestock trailers attached or livestock vehicles acting suspiciously, to come forwards.

If anyone has any information about the theft or the whereabouts of these sheep please contact Dorset Police on 101, at www.dorset.police.uk, or via email 101@dorset.pnn.police.uk quoting occurrence number 55200002113.

If you wish to remain anonymous please contact Crimestoppers Rural Crime Reporting Line by calling 0800 783 0137 or visiting http://www.ruralcrimereportingline.uk/

The team are also reminding farmers and smallholders to please remember the following points to help protect livestock:

• Keep the gates to your livestock locked and make sure that the hinges are capped to prevent the gate being lifted off its hinges.

• Block up unused gateways with tree trunks and old machinery.

• Consider fitting wildlife or trial cameras to fields where livestock are present to detect vehicle or person movement.

• Fit gate alarms.

• Consider fitting early warning intervention alarms that will link to your phone.

• Consider using livestock tracing systems.

If you would like a crime prevention visit to your farm please contact the Rural Crime Team via email ruralcrimeteam@dorset.pnn.police.uk.

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