THIEVES who dug up a number of native marsh orchids from a conservation area risk up to six months in prison or a £5,000 fine if caught.
The native British orchids were growing in a field managed for nature conservation near Clatterbridge before Paul Corner of Action Wirral Rivers discovered they had been stolen. Merseyside Police wildlife liaison officer Cons Andy McWilliam said that unauthorised uprooting of any wild plant is a criminal offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Dr Hilary Ash of Wirral Wildlife, who manages the field, said: "This is a particularly senseless act as wild orchids depend on a complex relationship with a fungus in the soil, and usually die if transplanted.
"The damage to the wildlife site is pointless."
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