A TORFAEN farmer has been left furious after a recent spate of sheep rustling on his land.

Brian Davies has been a livestock farmer for more than 50 years but said he is ‘at the end of his tether’ with several of his sheep going missing in the past few weeks.

The farmer and land-owner, whose holdings cover 120 acres around Abersychan, said he also had a similar problem this time last year.

The 72-year-old said: “They are going at a rate of one or two a week. So far this month I have lost four. It happened last year as well It’s getting too much and it can’t go on.

“It happened around the same time last year but then it stopped."

Mr Davies, who has reported the incident to police, lost three sheep from his own land last year, with a further 19 going missing on common land.

Before that he had never had a problem. The only other time he lost any of his flock was when a violent dog attacked and killed a number of his sheep near the end of the nineties.

The Waterworks Lane resident added: "I have looked everywhere, all of my sheep are marked with both my farm number and a livestock number so I know exactly which ones have gone and if they turned up at an auction then it would come up."

He said the losses had already cost him thousands.

When you consider how much a ewe is worth, it’s costing me at least £2,000 if not more. I have spoken to my neighbours and local farmers around but no one knows where they have gone. My main concern is how many more will go before this stops.”

Mr Davies took over the farm fully when his dad passed away in 1984 and also herded cattle until national issues with TB (Tuberculosis) saw him sell off the last of his cows in 2006.

Mr Davies’ sheep carry the tag mark UK723568. If you have any information relating to these incidents, call Gwent Police on 101 quoting log 136 23/09/16.