Three arrested for dangerous driving

The collision happened while police were at Thorney Dyke on Sunday morning following reports about hare coursing.

The collision involved a Subaru Impreza and a Vauxhall Astra and it left a man in his 30s needing to be assessed by East of England Ambulance Service paramedics.

However, a spokesman for the service said the man did not require transport to a hospital.

Three people aged 17, 18 and 42 have now been arrested and bailed to return to Thorpe Wood Police Station on January 25.

One Thorney farmer speaking to the Peterborough Telegraph, who would not give his name due to fear of reprisals, said hare coursing was going on at his farm once or twice a week.

He added: “We see them and we have to hide. They are there and we call the police and hide up.

“People have tried to stop it but they’ve had their vehicles smashed up.

“They have hung up hares on people’s doors to say they will be back later. But if they are caught then they just get a few hundred pounds’ fine.”

Cambridgeshire police’s Rural Crime Action Team announced a clampdown on hare coursing - where hares are pursued by dogs - last August.

Back then, Chief Inspector James Sutherland said: “Our message is simple – don’t come coursing in Cambridgeshire.

“Driving hare coursing out of the county is a priority for the Rural Crime Action Team and we will do all we can to catch those responsible and bring them to justice.”

The farmer the Peterborough Telegraph spoke to said the police have “proper bobbies who know the countryside,” but that “they do not have the fining powers.”

He added that the coursers make money from filming the dogs in pursuit of the hares, with people then betting on whether they catch them or not. Hare coursing is not a new problem in Thorney, and in 2000 farmers told the PT that the courts were not doing enough to protect them.

It comes after two men were fined just £240 and ordered to pay costs of £55 after coursing with a gang of 30 at a farm near Thorney.