POLICE are hunting a gang of sheep rustlers who struck at a farm in North Yorkshire.

About 100 texel lambs were taken from a farmer's field at Thornton Steward, near Leyburn, some time between Wednesday and Friday last week.

The lambs, white-faced and marked with a red letter R on their left side, are thought to have been herded into a waiting vehicle.

The animals were reported stolen after checks for them on neighbouring farms drew a blank.

So far this year, there have been numerous incidents of sheep rustling across the county, but although hundreds of sheep have been taken, the offence is still relatively rare.

"This is a county that covers about two million acres and there are a lot of sheep out there," said a police spokesman.

"This kind of crime is very hard to defend against but we do have two very effective measures.

"We have systems in place to detect cross-border criminals and monitoring their movements is invaluable.

"And many farmers are members of watch schemes and even go out on night patrols. If they spot lorries in remote areas in the middle of the night, they are in touch very quickly."

Anyone who saw anything suspicious or who knows anything about the incident, is asked to contact police on 0845 60 60 247.