Police in Norfolk have issued almost 30 community protection orders on suspected hare coursers.

The latest five have been served on a group of men arrested for taking art in the illegal bloodsport near Downham Market last month.

Officers working under the banner of Operation Galileo, an anti-coursing initiative involving 20 police forces, tweeted: "Twenty-nine CPWs have now been issued across Norfolk and 27 dogs have been seized since September."

Coursers face having their dogs confiscated by the courts if convicted, along with a fine of up to £5,000. Setting so-called sight hounds on hares was banned by the 2004 Hunting Act.

But gangs still target West Norfolk and the Fens, where remote low-lying land provides ideal terrain. Large sums are bet on which dog can kill the most hares, while coursers cause damage to sown crops by driving across farmers' fields.