Poaching
Wells Rural Neighbourhood Policing Team – Poaching Awareness
We’re asking our rural communities across the Wells area to be alert to potential poaching activity, particularly during the darker evenings and early mornings when offenders often operate.
Poaching is illegal and can lead to significant harm to local wildlife, farmland, and livestock. It frequently involves trespassing, property damage, and can be linked to wider rural crime.
What poaching can look like:
• Illegal hunting of deer, hare, or game
• Entering private land without permission to take wildlife
• Using lamps, lurchers, or other equipment to hunt at night
• Activity in fields or woodland outside permitted seasons
Signs to watch for in our rural villages and farmland:
- Vehicles parked in gateways, tracks, or laybys late at night
- Strong lamps or torches sweeping across fields
- Dogs or equipment associated with hunting
- People walking on farmland where they shouldn’t be
How to help us protect the countryside
Your reports help us build intelligence, plan patrols, and work with landowners to deter rural crime.
Call 101 to report suspicious activity
Dial 999 if you believe a crime is in progress
Reports can also be made online via the Avon & Somerset Police website
Thank you to everyone who continues to support us and our rural communities. Together we can help keep our countryside safe.
— Wells Rural Neighbourhood Policing Team
Actions
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22 February 2026
Wells Neighbourhood Policing Team has been carrying out rural patrols across the Mendip area, focusing on community concerns around poaching and wildlife crime.
Officers have engaged with farmers and landowners to gather intelligence, and delivered reporting information to support rural communities in identifying and reporting suspicious activity. Recent rural crime training has also strengthened our ability to respond effectively to poaching and countryside offences.
Thank you to everyone who attended our recent beat surgeries and rural community meeting. Your insight continues to help shape our patrol priorities.
If you see suspicious rural activity — particularly vehicles or lamps being used at night — please report it via 101, or 999 if a crime is in progress.