A woman said her ‘dog’s neck could have been hit’ after finding trap wire tied between trees in the woods.

Michelle Houghton-Fishwick and her partner Adrian were walking through the woods at Roddlesworth Reservoirs on Wednesday August 3, with their dogs Darcy and Roxy, when they came across a copper wire that had been tied between two trees.

Michelle managed to stop before she came into contact with the wire, which was about 12 inches off the ground, but said it could have hit Darcy’s throat if she had not noticed it.

Now, she has shared concerns that if a biker had hit it, they could have been thrown down a drop or hit a load of rocks, ending up with a serious injury.

Michelle said: “We go there a few times a week, it’s such a beautiful place.

“Some idiot thought it would be fun to hurt another human or pet. It’s such a beautiful place for walks and it gets very busy at the weekends.

“We need to make as many people as possible aware, especially bikers and people with dogs, to be aware of what we found.

“Whoever set the trap had gone to great lengths because it was tied to a tree down a drop and the other end went off quite a way into the woods and tied up to another tree.”

Michelle returned the following day to try and break the wire, and was assisted by two bikers who were out riding in the woods. 

A couple of days later, Michelle bumped into a staff member from United Utilities, who own the land, and made them aware of the wire, with the worker telling her it was not the first time a ‘trap’ had been laid.

A United Utilities spokesperson said: “We have been made aware of an incident of copper wire being cut from the boundary of our reservoir and being laid as a trap.

"We would urge anyone with any information to please report it to the police.”

Michelle said she has reported the incident to the police.

If you have any information, you can contact the police on 101 with log number 0869 of August 4.