THREE men have been arrested after footage appearing to show an illegal fox hunt in Wiltshire hit the headlines.

Wiltshire Police handcuffed a 29-year-old man from Lacock and a 38-year old man from Bromham in the early hours of Friday morning on suspicion of offences under Section 1 of the Hunting Act 2004 (hunting a wild animal with dogs), the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (causing unnecessary suffering) and The Protection of Badgers Act 1992 (disturbing a sett).

At noon, officers then arrested a 35-year-old man from Devizes on suspicion of the same offences.

All three suspects are currently in police custody.

This comes after a video appeared to show hunters digging foxes out of a den for their hounds to chase.

Chief Inspector James Brain said: “After being made aware of this disturbing footage, our officers have acted quickly to detain a number of people in relation to suspected wildlife offences.

"I would like to thank members of the public in responding to our appeal for information relating to this.

“We take such allegations extremely seriously and we continue to appeal for anyone with further information to contact us.”

Anyone with information relating to this alleged incident can call 101 quoting log 54230014294, or leave information anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.