THE RUC has begun an inquiry in Border areas of the North following allegations that some farmers have fraudulently claimed compensation for damage caused to their livestock by low flying British army helicopters.
Up to £4 million is believed to have been paid out by the Ministry of Defence in respect of claims of trauma and illness among cattle due to the noise of helicopters and disturbance caused by other army equipment.
Scores of compensation claims going back several years are being examined in the police inquiry, believed to have been requested by the Defence Ministry.
An Ulster Unionist Party councillor in south Armagh, Mr Danny Kennedy, said yesterday that it had become quite a "long standing joke" in the area "that if you've got a sick cow or any livestock in any way ill you'd be entitled to compensation if you claim that a helicopter `breathed' on it in some kind of way".
The compensation scheme had been particularly difficult to police in south Armagh, he said. However, he accepted that the allegations would be very hard to prove.
A separate grants scheme to help householders to install double glazing as noise insulation against low flying helicopters was not under investigation, he said.
That scheme had been very strictly administered. It still had a year to run and it was important that householders legitimately seeking grants of that kind should not be deterred, he said.