FOR nearly 50 years, volunteer Faye Burton has given up her time to thwart poachers operating in her area.

The animal-lover has spent 46 years keeping a keen eye on criminals trying to poach deer, course hare and bait badgers.

The 64-year-old, whose work covers all of Staffordshire, set up the Rural Policing Liaison Group (RPLG) 12 years ago, after Staffordshire Police axed its rural crime unit due to spending cuts.

The mum-of-two feared the loss of the unit could result in an increase in poaching.

For the last dozen years, Faye and the RPLG committee have met on a regular basis to stop the poachers.

During evening chases, Faye and her team try to get registration numbers of vehicles before passing the information to the police.

And last October, Faye set up Poacherwatch, which looks to recruit members so an email can be sent to all members with the location and description of suspected poachers.

The scheme has been backed by Staffordshire Police Chief Constable Mike Cunningham, pictured below.

Faye, of Stafford, said: "When I was growing up in Shropshire, we used to go wildlife watching and that's how I was first interested.

"When I was aged about 18 or 19 me and my brother used to go out into the countryside and watch the poachers and then destroy the traps after they'd gone.

"We set the traps off by getting a stick to set them off."

Faye has also raised enough money to fund a DNA wildlife kit for Africa that is still being used today.

For the past decade, she has taught hundreds of police officers and magistrates about rural issues and poaching.

Now, for her continued work she has been nominated asa volunteer of the year in The Sentinel's Our Heroes awards.

Faye said: "We had lots of deer poaching and badger baiting, so we set up the RPLG.

"Former chief constable John Giffard got rid of the rural crime unit and I knew wildlife crime would increase because of it."

For her work with the RPLG Faye and her team were awarded the NFU countryside award in 2002.

She said: "For a lot of these people it is just a sport, and sometimes they'll bet on it.

"We had so many calls about deer poaching and hare coursing and when you delve into these things you realise how much it's going on.

"I thought we needed to do more about it.

"We put signs up in the woodlands warning the poachers, stating they should not be trespassing."

Faye, a former nanny, has been nominated by RPLG vice-chairman Paul Shires.

The 34-year-old, from the Stafford area, said: "Faye puts in more work than the average person does into a full-time job.

"She's done it for 40-odd years and is very knowledgable.

"The police aren't always able to get to every call, so she's saving police time at the same time."

Who's your volunteer of the year? Email newsdesk@thesentinel .co.uk

Our Heroes: The Sentinel and Britannia

THE Sentinel has once again teamed up with Britannia, part of The Co-operative Group, to recognise Our Heroes. The campaign, now in its sixth year, aims to highlight the efforts of people of all ages and from all walks of life.

Neville Richardson, chief executive of The Co-operative Financial Services, said: "Our Heroes has become firmly established as a highlight of the community calendar. Once again we are being moved by the truly amazing stories of extraordinary achievements, selfless courage and determination - stories that provide inspiration for all of us.

A celebrity gala dinner to honour the winners will take place in September. The closing date for entries is July 29.