FOUR men are to appear at Chester Magistrates Court next week, charged in connection with the theft of historic artefacts from protected heritage sites.

Cheshire police have confirmed two men aged 33, as well as a 31-year-old man and a 29-year-old man, have been charged with unlicensed metal detecting in a protected place.

The charge is sometimes known as 'nighthawking'.

The 31-year-old man is also charged with producing the class B cannabis.

The four men, all from Tameside, are to appear in court in Chester on Friday, April 9.

It follows an investigation by Cheshire Police and Historic England into the theft of historic artefacts from protected heritage sites located across the Midlands and Northern England.