FARMERS are facing a new threat as livestock prices soar following foot and mouth disease - sheep rustling.

Police have issued a warning after 19 pregnant mule ewes, with a combined value of £2,000, were stolen from Clough Farm fields, Catlow Road, Slaidburn.

Clitheroe farmer Thomas Binns, vice-president of the NFU, said prices of some sheep have doubled and in some cases even trebled after foot and mouth.

PC Pat Sutton, of Clitheroe Police, called the theft "extremely unusual" and said the thieves knew what they were doing.

He said: "The ewes have clearly been stolen because the gate was closed and secured with chains and all the neighbouring farms have been checked by the owner to make sure they have not wandered off.

"This is the first case I have dealt with in more than 12 months in the Ribble Valley but that is not to say it doesn't happen. In some cases we have reports of theft only to find the sheep have wandered off and turn up in a field later. We believe that these were definitely stolen."

PC Sutton added the theft may have been a result of the difficulties faced by farmers still recovering from foot and mouth and warned others to be vigilant

He said: "Good stock is hard to come by at the moment and these were quality animals.

"There may be a gang working in the area and we would urge other farmers to be vigilant."

Farm owners Margaret and Harvey Robinson, who live at the neighbouring Woodhouse Gate Farm and own the land where they were taken, are victims for the second time of such an attack.

Mrs Robinson said: "It is a huge emotional loss because we get so attached to the sheep but it must be someone who knows about sheep to take them at their most vulnerable.

"They will be very distressed to be taken away at this stage."

The ewes are expected to bear two offspring each.

It is thought the animals would have been enticed away with food and transported in a small cattle or horse trailer.

Mrs Robinson said: "Nineteen ewes would easily have fitted in that size trailer and could have been taken anywhere. The person responsible must know about sheep, how to handle them and have a market to sell them on."

All the ewes taken and the remaining 600-strong herd have distinctive red marks on the rear of their backs and are clipped through the left ear which would make them easily recognisable in the area.

Mrs Robinson said the sheep will have to be replaced and the couple are currently seeking financial advice to make an insurance claim.

Mr Binns said: "There is a heightened market for livestock at the moment."

Anyone with information can contact PC Sutton on 01200 458 719 or 01200 443 344.