The finances of animal rights extremists are being targeted by police as a new way of attempting to disable an increasingly vicious campaign.

Detectives are investigating the funding of militant elements of animal welfare groups, signalling a shift in policing strategy from a reactive to an intelligence-led approach.
Some of the more extreme activists are not deterred by the threat of jail. A specialist police department - the National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit (Netcu) - has been formed specifically to tackle criminal aspects of the movement.