A farmer has spoken out after a surge in hare coursing and vandalism at his farm near Alton – including one incident in which two holiday-makers were terrorised by trespassers.

Clive Hancock has reported 13 cases to the police since November 1 of vandals breaking into the Moundsmere Estate near Lasham in the middle of the night to chase hares with greyhounds by lamplight.

Five such incidents occurred in the fortnight before Christmas Day, he said.

Hampshire’s countrywatch police team identified the Lasham area as a hotspot for hare coursing in their presentation to the Hampshire County NFU annual meeting on December 4 and the incidents have escalated since then.

Mr Hancock said: “This criminal activity is really, really horrible. Once the crops have cleared, these people are out on our fields, and the accumulative damage from all these incidents is enormous. This by far the worst intensity of criminal activity we have seen and the other farm manager here says it is has not been this bad in his 40 years in the area.

“Every other night, in the early hours of the morning, they gain access to our fields by cutting our gates off and then drive across the fields, doing lots of damage.

“On December 19 at night, they pulled out an entire gate post, drove across our fields, and then went into our neighbour’s farm and destroyed his property.

“It’s not just our estate that is affected by them, all of the surrounding farms have experienced them as well, we just happen to be at the centre of it.”

One particularly harrowing incident occurred one weekend at the estate where vandals entered a holiday cabin on their land in the early hours and woke up two women who were staying there.

Mr Hancock said: “They had head torches on and bizarrely said they were police before accusing the girls of trespassing and drinking.

“Thankfully, they left without any assault taking place but the girls’ car was parked about half a mile away and they took a gas bottle to their car and wrecked their doors and windows.

“We don’t know if it’s the same people doing it. We have CCTV footage from when they broke into the grounds of the property the other night but haven’t been able to identify them.”

Mr Hancock met with several officers from the Basingstoke Rural South police force who acknowledged hare-coursing is often a precursor to more serious crimes and that while they take the matter seriously, other crimes may require them to necessarily divert their resources.

Hampshire Police have emphasised how challenging it is to catch these individuals in rural areas and urged members of the farming community to continue to report cases of hare coursing with a meeting to be held in January with NFU members to update them on activity in rural areas.

The NFU says the problem isn't just limited to the Moundsmere Estate, with cases of illegal hare coursing and poaching "soaring" across the South East, leading to a huge rise in damage to crops and farm property.

NFU members have said they have seen a significant rise over the past few months in vandals breaking into their properties, leaving gates broken and fields damaged following illegal hare coursing – the pursuit of hares with greyhounds – and poaching – illegal hunting of wild animals.

Hampshire County Adviser Ben Gibbons said: “Hare coursing is a serious crime which puts people, animals and property at risk, and the NFU has been campaigning on members' behalf for better protection for a number of years.

“We saw an increase in penalties and changes in legislation giving police further powers to deal with hare coursing, but it's ultimately intelligence which will help police make arrests.

“We urge members in Hampshire to continue reporting any suspicious activity to the police via 101 or DISC. If it is a ‘live’ incident, always dial 999.

“Providing a grid reference via what3words can also help with accurate information to the police.”