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Cameras are to be installed at the nest sites of rare birds in a bid to protect them from persecution and disturbance.

The motion-sensitive cameras will operate 24 hours a day at a number of sites across Devon.

The move follows a spate of poisonings in 2011 in which goshawks, peregrine falcons and a buzzard were killed.

In 2012, two men were prosecuted in south Devon after they approached a peregrine falcon's nest to take photographs without a licence.

They both admitted intentional disturbance and were both issued with police cautions.

The police hope the cameras will deter and detect those disturbing the birds.