WILD songbirds and trapping gear were seized in a joint RSPCA and police raid on a house in a North-East village.

Uniformed inspectors from the charity found a greenfinch, a siskin and a linnet in Byers Green, near Bishop Auckland.

A middle-aged man is expected to be questioned in the near future. The birds have been taken to a sanctuary outside the region.

The raid followed a lengthy investigation by the RSPCA's special operations unit.

Inspector Gavid Butterfield, who took part, said: "Recent information that we have received suggests a considerable amount of bird trapping is going on in the local area.

"The RSPCA is very concerned about the growing trade in illegally caught wild birds in the country as a whole.

"The information we have is that illegal bird trapping is a big business, not just nationally, but internationally.

"Birds are being sold abroad as well as at home through organised channels as well as collectors and distributors."

During the past two years, the charity's uniformed and undercover inspectors have carried out more than 50 operations to catch trappers and exporters threatening the country's songbird population. They have secured more than 200 convictions.

Collectors use three main trapping methods - setting decoy cages using another bird to attract the victim, stringing up fine mist nets which the bird flies into, and smearing a sticky substance on to twigs to trap the bird by its feet.

Anyone with information about cruelty to animals is asked to call the RSPCA on 08705 555999.