[DaveinGermany]

The Plod should be hammering these creatures, firing & using an air rifle in public is quite simply illegal

Using an Air Rifle

Air Rifles may be used only on land where the user has full permission to shoot.
It is illegal:

• To shoot on any land, including common land, river banks, public land, recreation and land covered by water, i.e. lakes and rivers where you do not have full permission from the land owner or tenant.
• To fire an Air Rifle closer than 50 feet (15 metres) from the centre of a public highway, or footpath.
• To fire an Air Rifle pellet beyond the land to which you have permission to shoot
• For a person in possession of an Air Rifle to fail to take reasonable precautions to prevent someone under the age of 18 from gaining unauthorised access to it

It is legal:

• For anyone above the age of 14 to shoot an Air Rifle on private land where full permission to shoot has been given.
• For those below the age of 14 to shoot an Air Rifle on private land, but only if closely supervised by a responsible person over 21 years of age. The supervising adult is legally responsible for the actions of the junior shooter.

These are the laws & they are blatantly being flaunted.