A duck was stuffed into a carrier bag after being stolen from a lake in St Albans.

Officers have released pictures of a man they would like to speak to following the incident at Verulamium Lake in Verulamium Park.

A man was seen taking a young mallard from the lake and placing it into a carrier bag at around 11.15am on Sunday, June 5.

The man, who was with a woman, then walked towards the car park.

When he was challenged by a woman who had seen the incident, the man eventually returned the bird to the lake.

He then verbally abused the woman before leaving the area.

PC Jos Bartlett, from the Rural Operational Support Team, who is investigating, said: “I am keen to speak to the man pictured as we believe he may have information that can help our investigation.

“Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, it is an offence to take, kill or injure any wild bird and under the Animal Welfare Act it is an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to an animal.

“We take incidents of this type extremely seriously and will do our utmost to arrest offenders.”