A MALVERN Hills grazier, whose sheep were chased into the town centre, has urged pet owners to help protect his animals.

John Chance, who has been a grazier on the hills for nine years, said he had a call around three weeks ago saying one of his sheep was in somebody's garden and its leg and face had been bitten. 

Just weeks later, a dog chased several sheep off the hills, with one ending up in the centre of Great Malvern, and it took Mr Chance ten days to get all of them. 

He has said some owners don't keep their pets on leads, despite signage telling them to do so, as they don't think their dog will harm a sheep until 'the unthinkable happens.' 

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The Malvern Hills Trust could soon have powers to impose on-the-spot fines to repeat offenders who consistently take their dogs off leads through its mooted private bill. 

Mr Chance told the Gazette: "We've worked with the police in Malvern quite a bit on this, they are very good. 

"It's not just physical injury, sheep can suffer from shock when dogs chase them. 

"We have had instances where we have seen a dog being let off their leads and we have followed the owners to the car park, gotten their registration number and the police have written to them."

This issue has spiked in recent weeks after several months without any major incidents. 

No sheep have had to be put down for around a year due to dogs chasing them- and Mr Chance said he doesn't want to face that 'horrible situation' again.

Currently, any dog owner who allows or causes their pet to chase any animal on the hills is in breach of the trust's bylaws and could be hit with a fine of up to £500. 

However, this requires the police or the trust to bring forward a prosecution. 

The trust's mooted private bill proposes granting a new ability to impose on-the-spot fixed penalty fines, including the power to ask for names and addresses. 

Trust CEO Deborah Fox said she doesn't want to do this, however, and would rather prevent offenders with a friendly chat rather than enforce its rules and hand out fines.