Dog walkers are being urged to take extra care when walking on the Hills and Commons as sheep and their lambs return to the Malvern Hills.

So far this year, a sheep and a lamb have been killed by dogs on the Malvern Hills and three more sheep have been injured. There are many more livestock worrying incidents, which including chasing, that go unreported to the trust.

Beck Baker, the trust's community and conservation officer, said: "Sadly, dogs chasing and attacking sheep is a common occurrence on the hills and commons.

"We’d like to remind dog walkers that any dog, big or small, docile or aggressive, has the potential to chase or kill livestock, so all dogs should be kept on a lead near grazing cattle and sheep. The simple solution of putting a dog on a lead will help keep sheep and lambs safe.

"‘It is a criminal offence for a dog to worry livestock and we may report incidents to the police. This may result a dog being destroyed and fines for the dog owner. To be safe, always put your dog on a lead near grazing livestock."

To help dog walkers avoid the livestock or prepare to encounter livestock, the Malvern Hills Trust provides a weekly Stockwatch update with the locations of sheep and cattle.

The public can view this on the trust website or sign up to receive weekly email alerts with the information. Stockwatch is also included each week in the Malvern Gazette.

To help dog owners better understand their dogs and train their animals to ignore livestock, the Malvern Hills Trust is subsidising Sheep Safe dog training courses. The courses, with dog behaviourist Sue Harper are running through the spring and summer.

Contact Sue by emailing sharperdogs@hotmail.co.uk for more information and to book a place.