A PENSIONER was left shaken and upset after he found the heads of two hens hanging from a fence.

Retired tyre salesman Alec Varcoe was investigating one of the Carlisle Road allotments in Longtown after he noticed parts of the fence had been cut off.

Mr Varcoe, 65, who runs the allotment with his son Daniel Varcoe, noticed something was wrong in the allotment the pair are scheduled to move into.

They currently run a different allotment on the site.

“Last Wednesday night I was coming over to the allotment, coming up in the car and noticed on the right-hand side wire had been removed [pictured right] from the bottom of the fence,” explained Alec Varcoe.

“The next night a larger bit was taken off. On Friday night I thought I would have a look. I thought somebody had taken wire for their plants or whatever.

“When more went missing I thought something is going on, I thought ‘oh dear’.”

When Mr Varcoe entered the allotment on February 10 he witnessed something unexpected. The heads of two hens could be seen hanging from the fence of the allotment, with the bodies of the two birds lying on the floor.

“It was a complete act of cruelty and two young hens have lost their lives.”

The white hens are believed to be owned by one of the other allotment holders.

There are 71 allotments on the site in total, which are each charged at £20 per year for rent. Many are used for gardening, while others are used to keep birds.

The Longtown man reported the crime to police on Thursday.

“They told me the crime is so gruesome the person responsible could get five to seven years in jail for that.”

Mr Varcoe is keen for the person responsible to be held to account.

“I hope they are taken to court and sentenced. The heads were ripped off rather than cut off. How much pain those chicks must’ve suffered. It was a pure act of cruelty.

“What sick person has done this? It’s absolutely terrible that someone could do that.”

After taking pictures of the crime he then began to make people in the area aware.

“I showed them to people and they said, ‘Alec, they are so gruesome, I don’t want to see them’.

The animal lover was recently forced to break the lock of his allotment after it was glued shut by an unknown person. In the Varcoe allotment there are 10 hens, 11 ducks and three geese.

Mr Varcoe lives with his wife Norma in Ladyseat Gardens in the town, however this incident has left the family considering moving their allotment to Carlisle.

Arthuret parish council said they had been made aware of the incident. The crime has also been reported to the RSPB and RSPCA.

Alternatively they can contact 101@cumbria.police.uk.Inspector for Cumbria Constabulary Nick Oliver said: “We are aware of an incident of criminal damage at allotments in the Longtown area that was reported to us last week.

“An investigation is underway and we would like to reassure the public we are working to identify the offender(s)”.

Witnesses should call 101.