Villagers determined to protect nesting skylarks say they had a police dispersal notice slapped on them after trying to stop a farmer mowing a field.

Police were called to land off Cryalls Lane and Wises Lane at Borden near Sittingbourne when residents accused farmworkers of putting the protected birds in danger.

The stand-off began last Saturday (Apr 16) when former RSPCA officer Nicola Honey, 66, saw a tractor spraying weed-killer while she was walking her dog.

She alerted animal-rights supporter Vivien Smith who called police and summoned reinforcements using the private Borden Wildlife Group Facebook page.

Miss Smith said: "The skylarks had been clearly visible for weeks. The Wildlife and Countryside Act exists for a crucial reason, to protect wildlife from being destroyed."

But she claims police took the farmer's side.

She said: "Any attempt to explain anything about nesting birds and the Wildlife and Countryside Act, and our pleas for a delay so we could get the attendance of qualified personnel or the rural police, were ignored."

She says the landowner agreed to halt the operation until he had received legal advice after the bank holiday but says the machines later carried on and returned on the Sunday to dig up the field, which is owned by A Hinge and Sons.

She said: "There was an all-out operation to get the fields ploughed so there was no remaining evidence." After being "horrified" at watching a "blatant disregard for wildlife" as skylarks flew into the air as the tractors went back to work on the Sunday she took matters into her own hands.

She admitted: "I risked the consequences of trespassing to explain to the tractor drivers they were breaking the law and that the police had been called and they should stop and wait for the police to arrive to sort it out."

Instead, when four police cars with blue flashing lights arrived she says she and her friends were served with a dispersal notice and banned from the field for three months.

Nicola Honey said: "The police said it was a demonstration but it wasn't. It was dog-walkers and people out for exercise who witnessed what the farmers were doing and knew of the presence of nesting birds.

"To be treated by the police in such a condescending manner and having our requests completely ignored was bad enough but being given a dispersal order and then threatened with arrest was the final straw.

"The police action, or lack of action, enabled the farmer to completely destroy the habitat in those fields. It was a sad, sad day for wildlife."

At one stage Swale council's deputy leader Cllr Mike Baldock, who lives nearby, was also present.

A farmworker, who did not want to be named, said: "It was a waste of police officers' time. The tractors were there to kill the weeds and mow the vegetation so the cultivator could loosen the soil to make a seedbed for planting maize.

"Any farmer/employee knows it’s standard practice that if any ground nests are spotted the area would be left around the nest and not disturbed. The police were happy for the operation to continue after the protesters had dispersed."

He denied that the farmer agreed to wait for legal advice. He said Miss Smith had been "very close" to being arrested for "aggravated trespass and a breach of the peace" and added: "A dispersal order was put on the site and any further protesters were warned they would be arrested."

He said protesters had been unable to point out any nests. Miniature wooden crosses were later planted in the field.

Kent Police confirmed officers were called on Saturday April, 16 and Sunday, April 17 to a report that farm work in Cryalls Lane, Sittingbourne threatened to disturb nesting birds.

A spokesman said: "Patrols attended and enquiries into the incidents did not identify that any offences had been committed. Officers from Kent Police’s Rural Task Force have since made contact with the person responsible for the land and provided advice regarding the appropriate precautions to be taken to protect wildlife, specifically nesting birds, in locations where agricultural work is planned."

A Hinge and Son was asked for a comment.