Gardener facing prosecution - for releasing squirrels into the wood

When grey squirrels began preying on birds nesting in his garden, Roy Hill thought he had the humane solution. The 68-year-old former Welsh Guardsman set up a cage, captured the troublesome pests, then released them into the wild.

So Mr Hill was astonished to receive a visit from an RSPCA inspector who he said scolded him for breaking the law and threatened to haul him into court.

He was even more outraged to learn that, thanks to a bizarre quirk in the law, he would not be in any bother at all if he had simply shot the squirrels dead, rather than letting them go.