FOUR men have been slapped with a £400 fine after they were caught illegally fishing on the River Test on Friday.

The group, who were all from the Slough area, were issued £100 fines each after they were spotted illegally fishing near the A3057, north of Leckford, and challenged by a river keeper.

Now the men have had their fishing equipment seized after the group were stopped in their tracks by police officers, three minutes after running away from the river keeper.

The ten hour operation saw officers from Hampshire Constabulary team up with 20 river keepers and enforcement officers from the Environment Agency in a bid to target poaching, hare coursing, non-residential burglary, quad bike thefts and other rural crimes.

READ: 'It's a free-for-all': Groups spotted 'fouting lockdown rules' >>> 

Three other suspicious vehicles were also stopped during operation - on the A3057, Roke Manor and Romsey areas.

PC Ian Bassett, from the force's Country Watch specialist rural crime team, said: "This demonstrates the huge value of working in partnership with other agencies and our local landowners and river keepers.

"As well as our colleagues from Roads Policing Unit and the Romsey and Stockbridge Neighbourhood Teams, this operation was fantastically assisted by enforcement officers from the Environment Agency and the river keepers.

"We successfully disrupted illegal activity on the river and this type of operation will continue.

"We want to send a message that we are out there on patrol and we will robustly target suspicious vehicles and people."

READ: Woman slams group for 'poaching carp' in Rownhams lake >>> 

Residents are encouraged to report an incidents to the police if they see anything suspicious by calling 999.

Crime and suspicious activity can also be reported online by visiting www.hampshire.police.uk, or by clicking on this link https://www.hampshire.police.uk/ro/report/.

As previously reported in the Romsey Advertiser, a woman hit out a group of people claiming she witnessed them "poaching fish" from a lake in Rownhams.

Kay Collings vented her anger at the trio after she spotted them reeling in a fish and storing it "in a black backpack" beside Lakeside Avenue.