A BUSINESS from Ludlow is offering a £500 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of those behind the deliberate poisoning of a pair of peregrine falcons in the county.

Two of the rare birds - a male and female - were found dead close to their nest site on Clee Hill and their three chicks had to be brought to safety by a specialist cliff rescue team.

The young were placed in a “foster nest” and, according to RSPB officials, are doing well.

West Mercia Police and the RSPB are investigating the incident.

Killing the protected species is a serious offence that can lead to up to six months in prison on conviction. But successful prosecutions are rare as it’s a hard offence to prove. So that’s why ACM Training, which is based at Coreley near the nest site, is offering the reward.

“We hope that the offer will persuade somebody to do the decent thing and contact the police with information. Somebody, somewhere knows what happen to these magnificent birds and I’d urge them to come forward,” said Richard Uridge, a director of the company.

“The site where these birds nest is close to our office so we feel a close affinity to the peregrines. I often cycle past and take friends and family to see them and it breaks my heart that anybody should do such a thing.”

ACM Training is based at Coreley near Ludlow. Founded in 1995 by the former BBC newsreader and journalist Richard Uridge and his partner Sandy Keating, it provides media, communication an organisational development training to organisations including, significantly, the RSPB.

The killing of the falcons follows a major success in 2016 when chicks were successfully raised at the site.

But the illegal killing of the falcons is not unknown and in 2015 the parent birds and their chicks were poisoned.

In 2016 the Shropshire Peregrine Group took major steps to protect the birds including the use of CCTV and patrols by local volunteers. There were also increased patrols from the police.

Peregrine falcons are large birds of prey and the chicks would normally stay with their parents for many months.

The birds are noted for their speed of flight and swoop down on their prey rather than glide like many birds of prey. Peregrine falcons are regarded as the fastest birds in flight.

They are white on top with grey bars under their body and wings.

Breeding birds usually use cliffs in uplands or on the coast from which to raise their young.

Like many birds of prey they are subject to persecution and a national group of pigeon-fanciers has in the past called for licences to be issued to enable the removal of falcons from areas where there are lofts.

The use of poison is one of the most common ways in which criminals kill birds of prey and obtaining evidence to bring successful prosecutions is difficult.