Farmers facing losses over crop circle damage

Crop circles in fields in Dorset have been branded as "criminal damage" by police and farmers.

A spider motif appeared on farmland near Cerne Abbas on Thursday morning. Dorset Police appealed for information, saying the stunt had damaged crops.

PC Kate Schofield said: "This act of criminal damage has had a significant financial impact on the farmer."

Farmer Will Pope, who had a circle created on his land near Sturminster Marshall last year, described the practice as "blatant vandalism".

The phenomena of mysterious formations appearing in fields peaked in the 1990s and early 2000s.

South-west England is at the centre of much of the activity - with Wiltshire Police also recently warning that creating them without the landowner's permission was criminal damage.

Mr Pope admitted the circles were "clever and good art work".

"But it's also my livelihood and blatant vandalism. It definitely had an impact on me, and I reckon the damage came to several thousand pounds.

"It wasn't just damage to the crop, but to the ground where you're planning to plant something else."

He said people turned up to his farm after pictures of the circles were circulated on social media.

"I wouldn't mind if the people who do this kind of thing approach farmers first and we could have a dialogue, maybe come to an agreement and charge entry," he added.

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