BIRDS of prey in Lancashire are to be protected by a DNA database set up to combat thieves who snatch chicks and eggs from their nests.

Information collected from feather samples from 100 birds in the north of England are to be kept in a scheme launched by PC Steve Downing, an officer based in Keighley, West Yorkshire.

The samples will be used to prove that chicks being sold as "bred in captivity" are in fact wild birds.

And there are plans to extend the scheme, which is backed by the NSPCC, to the rest of the country at the end of trials during this year's brooding season.

The database has been set up to protect birds such as merlins, peregrine falcons and goshawks, which are regularly targeted by thieves and egg snatchers. The initial trials will take in protected birds in East Lancashire, particularly nesting sites in Rawtenstall and Earby.

Until now, police have had to rely on difficult-to-obtain blood samples to prove the origin of birds.

The new system using feathers has been introduced following research by geneticist Dr David Parkin at Nottingham University.

Samples will be taken by licensed ringers who visit nests to ring young birds.

Lancashire police wildlife officer PC Maria Thompson said: "If the scheme takes off we hope to have somebody from each force co-ordinating the scheme.

"The database will provide Lancashire police with information about where the birds are.

"There have been several incidents in Lancashire in the last few years where people have either taken chicks or been found going equipped to raid nests.

"It is difficult to say how big a problem we have but this initiative will be a big deterrent."

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