'Dogwatch' schemes are replacing traditional neighbourhood watches, with police increasingly calling on Britain's early risers to help solve burglary and theft cases.

Dog walkers in Hampshire, Essex and Bedfordshire are being urged to report any suspicious behaviour they see while out with their pets.

Forces say they are more likely to witness potentially criminal activity due to the unusual times they go out and the fact that they take similar routes every day, so will be able to recognise unfamiliar faces or behaviour.

Hampshire Constabulary became the latest force to launch a dedicated scheme in the New Forest earlier this month.

Walkers were asked to report suspicious activity or vehicles, graffiti and vandalism, fly-tipping, hare coursing and livestock worrying to the police or appropriate partner agency.

The move will be seen as an attempt to crack down on perpetrators escaping justice.

Theft and burglary are of particular concern, with recent figures showing just one in 500 cases are being solved in areas of Britain.

It comes as membership of neighbourhood watch schemes plummets. In 2015, the Neighbourhood Watch movement reported a 37 per cent decline in membership in the previous 12 years.

The Telegraph recently revealed how police chiefs were effectively "screening out" low level crimes such as shoplifting, pickpocketing and theft if there were no witnesses.