Met police recover stolen lambs

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/hampshire/8502760.stm

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Forty-four of the 50 two-week-old lambs that were stolen from a Hampshire farm have been found by Metropolitan Police officers on the London/Surrey border.

They were taken from three sheep pens at a farm in Upton Grey, near Basingstoke, overnight on Friday.

The animals, which have now been reunited with their owner, were found near New Malden, Kingston-Upon-Thames.

Three lambs died and three are unaccounted for, said police who are appealing for witnesses.

Unanswered questions

PC Lee Coleshill, from Hampshire Constabulary, told BBC News: "The farmer is pleased to have them back [but] it is a mystery how the lambs came to be where they were.

"They were seen roaming in the road by a member of the public who telephoned the Metropolitan Police.

"The lambs were enclosed in a small area on an allotment when the police arrived."

He said there was a possibility that the "distressed" ewes may reject their offspring and if that happens they will have to be bottle-fed.

He added: "There are suggestions that the lambs were bound for the restaurant trade.

"But they cannot be used for meat at this stage, they are not fit for human consumption due to their young age."