9Open trapping of hares and rabbits in England and Wales
(1)Subject to the provisions of this section, a person shall be guilty of an offence under this subsection if, for the purpose of killing or taking hares or rabbits, he uses, or knowingly permits the use of, a spring trap elsewhere than in a rabbit hole.
(2)A person guilty of an offence under the foregoing subsection shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds or, if he has been previously convicted of such an offence or of an offence under section five of the Prevention of Damage by Rabbits Act, 1939, a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.
(3)Subsection (1) of this section shall not render unlawful the use of spring traps in such circumstances and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by regulations made by statutory instrument by the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, or their use under and in accordance with a licence given by him.
(4)A licence under this section—
(a)may be embodied in a rabbit clearance order under this Act, or in a notice given under section ninety-eight of the Agriculture Act, 1947 ; and
(b)whether so embodied or not, may be revoked by the Minister (in whole or in part) by giving notice of the revocation in such manner as he thinks sufficient to inform the persons concerned.
(5)This section applies to England and Wales, but not to Scotland.