A field target shooter who claims he was asking permission to shoot rabbits in a field at Goodrich was stunned to find that a photograph of his vehicle was posted on the Ross-on-Wye Neighbourhood Watch Facebook page. The NW also issued a warning to all farmers, land owners, and those who own horse or have stables.

They reported that a white van was seen on April 16th by Rocklands Farm, Goodrich, near Ross-on-Wye.

The report said that two men with Welsh accents, were seen photographing horses and claimed that a load of cardboard had also been dumped.

The incident was reported to West Mercia Police and given an incident number: 696S-160418.

The Herefordshire Rural & Business Officer for West Mercia Police, Mr P Crumpton has said: “The occupants of this van were in an area where poaching has taken place. Local land owners and the Police are very interested in any sightings".

And they asked people to report any sightings to 101.

The Ross Gazette published the warning which was swiftly shared by many people.

However, Anthony Jones contacted the Ross Gazette to say that he is the owner of the white van seen in the pictures. He wants to tell people that he was not doing anything untoward at the time.

He told the Ross Gazette that he is a Welsh champion target shooter and is also planning to set up a business in pest control. He said: “I called to the farm where I spoken to a lady who was polite and told me that the local game keeper was sorting the rabbit population.” He said that he then returned to his vehicle.

Anthony said he was really embarrassed when a member of his gun club in Blaunau Gwent showed him the report and the picture.

He said: “I am absolutely mortified, this is a real embarrassment as I am a welsh shooting champion of 2016/2017, also hoping for 2018. The claims that are made about fly tipping are not true, the claim about pictures are partly true as I was amazed at the number of rabbits at the location. I saw at least 50 in one field.”