Safety fears sparked after 'wire traps' found at Southampton Common

A Shirley man, who has asked to not be identified, stumbled upon five "wire traps" in a wooded area at Southampton Common on Saturday evening.

He found wire, described as fishing wire, tied between trees at the common. He was able to remove five of the "traps".

The incident has been labelled as "very dangerous" and has sparked safety fears for those who use the area.

Wire tied between trees at Southampton Common.

He said: "They were installed quite low to make people trip over them. They are quite hard to spot in because the fishing line is transparent, but I managed to take down around five traps.

"They might be danger for people because they are set up specially to make people fall which is quite dangerous considering all the sticks, logs and other woody things around these traps."

Shirley Ward Councillor Satvir Kaur described the Common as "the green lungs of our city", adding that it is a place that is "much loved and well used" by everyone.

Satvir Kaur

She told the Daily Echo: "These traps are potentially very dangerous and could cause serious harm to people and animals.

"I hope those putting them in, think twice and stop.

"I would also encourage people to report anything they see which could cause harm in our parks.”

Southampton City Council has said that the City Welfare Wardens are "not aware of this issue and have not come across any traps of this nature recently".

They added: "We have tasked the City Welfare Wardens to do some additional patrols on The Common this week.

"We would like to take this opportunity to encourage visitors to the common to use the proper paths in order to not disturb wildlife at nesting time, but take extra care if you are going off path as there are many natural trip hazards.”

Hampshire Police have also said they have had no reports of traps at the Common but are encouraging people to report anything they think might be a crime so that it can be investigated.

They also said that the "intent" of the traps would determine if a crime has been committed.