A YOUNG otter suffered an agonising death after it was caught in a trap on a North Yorkshire riverside.

Police wildlife officer Mike Pannett was called to a stretch of water on the Derwent river network after a passer-by discovered the animal on Sunday.

The otter had gone into the legal trap, used for catching vermin such as mink, and had set off the spring door, said PC Pannett.

It tried to chew through the wire bars, and had struggled - still in the trap - towards the water, where it had drowned.

"It will have died a very appalling death," said PC Pannett.

"The trap was attached to a tree by a piece of wire and if it had been a shorter piece of wire it would not have been able to drag itself into the water.

"It is a totally legal trap, but in my opinion it has been set in a very unprofessional place.

"It's obvious to me that that otter has been in there longer than 24 hours."

Humane traps, such as the one used, must be checked at least every 24 hours, said PC Pannett.

"I want to make sure this does not happen again," he said.

"This is a big message to all gamekeepers and landowners that bad practice will not be tolerated."

Peter Richman, who found the otter, said he was disgusted at what he had seen.

"I was very upset to see one of the rarest animals in Britain, an animal we have been trying to get established in Yorkshire, killed in this way," said Mr Richman, a member of York Mammal Group.

"We want publicity on things like this to make people feel guilty, and to let them know that members of the public are there looking out for wildlife.

"The otters don't really have much chance if people are not checking the traps every 24 hours."

Gordon Woodroffe worked to re-establish otters in the Derwent catchment area in a massive programme 13 years ago.

He said today: "You are always pretty horrified when this happens because a lot of work went into the release programme.

"The River Riccal, the Rye, Seven and Dove have all got otters in them now, and a lot of care was taken before any releases were done to get agreement from landowners and gamekeepers.

"It's very frustrating when you get something like this, it's always a setback."

Updated: 10:57 Tuesday, April 01, 2003