A major crackdown on people who kill rare birds of prey is being launched today.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is preparing to launch a round-the-clock nest protection scheme for hen harriers on one of its nature reserves in the North.

The society is also starting a hen harrier hotline, appealing for records of the species on English moorlands.

Last year, only ten pairs of hen harriers nested in England, all in the Forest of Bowland, in Lancashire.

Regular sightings of several individual harriers around Geltsdale, straddling the Cumbria and Northumberland border, have raised hopes that the birds may nest on the RSPB's Geltsdale nature reserve.

Nesting hen harriers in England have been monitored by English Nature for four years.

Richard Saunders, English Nature's hen harrier project manager, said: "As a result of persecution, hen harriers first disappeared from England's moors around 150 years ago and it is very depressing how little has changed."

A UK-wide survey last year found there had been a 44 per cent increase in hen harrier numbers since 1998. However, these increases have occurred largely away from grouse moors, in Wales, Northern Ireland and western Scotland.

Julian Hughes said: "The outlook for harriers in northern England and southern Scotland is increasingly bleak."

The society will use the information given on the hotline to ensure the protection of nesting hen harriers.

The number is (0176) 768 0551.