Police in rural areas across Britain are reporting a dramatic increase in poaching, as the rise in food prices and the reality of recession increases the temptation to deal in stolen venison, salmon, or rarer meat and fish.

Organised and sometimes armed gangs of poachers are accused of behaving dangerously, intimidating residents, causing damage to crops or to gates and fences. Squads have also been out in the countryside "lamping", poachers using lights to transfix animals.

Douglas McAdam, the chief executive of the Scottish Rural Property and Business Association, said: "Poaching and illegal coursing ranges from wide-scale criminal activity undertaken on a commercial scale, to one-off incidents often involving animal cruelty on the urban fringe. Such offences interfere with the activities of the land manager and are often coupled with other criminal action and rural crime such as theft or vandalism."