A MAN charged with possessing a wild common buzzard had his court case adjourned yesterday.

Peter Andrew Hill, 24, was due to appear before Sunderland Magistrates to face four charges, including possessing a controlled wild bird under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Mr Hill, of Commercial Road, Hendon, Sunderland, is one of the first people in the country to be prosecuted under new regulations for this type of breed.

He faces three charges under control of trade in endangered species regulations, namely offering an endangered bird for sale, keeping an endangered species for sale and selling an endangered species without the appropriate documentation.

Northumbria Police, who brought the charges, have said that it is one of the first cases in which charges have been brought under the control of trade in endangered species regulations.

Mr Hill was not in court, and the case was adjourned until June 4.