Police are appealing for information after four sheep were found mutilated in woodland at Gressingham near Lancaster on Tuesday 1st November.

The sheep carcasses were found dumped about ten meters from the road by a member of the public in a small wooded area when going down a Rabbit Lane from the B6254 towards Gressingham.

Three of the sheep were male Mules, the other a Texel ewe. Two of the males had started developing horns. The animals had not been tagged. Their heads and skin had been left but their insides had been removed.

They are likely to have died overnight on Monday 31st October to Tuesday 1st November.

So far, police have been unable to trace their owner so it is not known if they’ve been stolen.

Community Beat Manager PC Antony Marsh said: “I would ask anyone that saw anything suspicious to contact the police. The sheep have likely been killed for their meat and the skinning appears to have been done by someone with experience and was probably not done at the scene.

“I would also ask people in the area to be vigilant, and to remind the public of the health dangers of buying meat from an unknown source.”

• Anyone with any information about this incident should contact Carnforth Police Station on 01524 63333