HIDDEN cameras set up to catch fly-tippers have instead been triggered by a feathery intruder.

As part of a crackdown on illegal waste dumping, Durham County Council installed a series of CCTV cameras at known hotspots.

But after the team were alerted to possible criminal activity being caught on camera, they instead found footage of an inquisitive pheasant having a look down the lens.

Durham County Council's neighbourhood protection manager Ian Hoult said: "There was some excitement in the office when it was thought that one of our cameras had been triggered and again caught a criminal.

"But thankfully on this occasion, nobody had fallen 'fowl' of the law."

The council said since launching Operation Stop It in November 2014, there has been a 29 per cent decrease in fly-tipping across the county.