A GAMEKEEPER believes thieves are targeting his kennels after the theft of five working dogs worth a total of nearly £4,000.

Andrew Page fears the raiders will return to steal more dogs from his property near Selset reservoir, in Lunedale, near Barnard Castle, County Durham.

The five dogs have been stolen in three separate raids over the past two months. One has since been returned after being found in a school playground in the Eldon Lane area of Bishop Auckland, County Durham.

Mr Page said: "It certainly seems that someone is targeting this place, knowing that we have some very valuable dogs.

"The first theft may have been opportunist, but the others appear to have been carefully planned.

"It seems somebody has been watching us."

The dogs were all locked in kennels, but the locks were forced open and part of the structure was removed to get them out.

The first two taken were Patterdale terriers, a dog and bitch, both two-years-old and worth £500 each.

They were trained and were used to flush out vermin on the land Mr Page oversees.

The two dogs taken in the second raid were a black and white springer spaniel and a cocker spaniel, both used for shooting on the moors and worth £1,000 each. The cocker was recovered and is now back in the kennels.

In the third raid this week, a black and white cocker spaniel bitch, valued at £850, was stolen. It was being trained for gun work and is 13-weeks-old.

Mr Page said: "All the dogs were well bred and valuable, but the fact that they had been trained and were used to work on the moors made them worth even more.

"They are sociable dogs, used to mixing with people while working, so the thieves would have no difficulty making friends with them and getting them to jump into a vehicle."

He said he did not want to give the dogs' names as this would make it easier for the thieves to get them to obey orders and be possibly worth more to them.

Sergeant Ed Turner, of Barnard Castle police, appealed to anyone who knows where the dogs are to get in touch with him.

"We'd like to know about anyone who has recently acquired a spaniel or terrier, or who is offered one for sale," he said.

"The thieves may have been watching these premises, ready to move in when the kennels were unattended. But security has been beefed up so much that if they go there again they are likely to be caught."

He said a red Transit-style van was seen in Lunedale around the time of one of the thefts.

Anyone who has seen the vehicle, or noticed strangers in the area, is asked to call police on 0845-60-60-365 or Crimestoppers on 0800-555-111.