Neighbours who saw a 4x4 vehicle pull up in their quiet country lane thought at first they were dealing with yet another case of fly-tipping.

Two people who live nearby took the registration number as the car pulled away before investigating what had been left.

They were astonished to see a confused-looking lop-eared rabbit huddled motionless in the field off Underhill Lane by Coombe Down reservoir, near Ditchling.

They approached the tame bunny, nicknamed Starsky, and took her home before calling the RSPCA.

A mother and daughter from Hangleton, Hove, were tracked down by RSPCA inspectors and yesterday pleaded guilty to abandoning the rabbit in circumstances likely to cause unnecessary suffering.

Linda Chandler, 44, and Nina Newman, 21, both of Steyning Avenue, Hangleton, Hove, were fined when they appeared before magistrates in Horsham.

Andrew Foreman, acting for the RSPCA, said the pair had driven past the RSPCA's rescue centre in Patcham on the way to the beauty spot.

He said: "This is not the kind of rabbit one would normally expect to find running around the English countryside.

"This took place next to a road and it's quite likely at some stage the rabbit would have been run over. If it had survived that, it would not have been used to finding its own food or shelter. Due to its colour, it would have been prone to attack by foxes."

Representing herself, Chandler told the court the rabbit had appeared on her doorstep and she had not known what else to do with it.

She said she already had animals and could not afford to feed another.

She said they had taken it out to the countryside to give it "a better chance of survival".

Chandler was fined £50 and her daughter fined £70. Both were ordered to pay £207 costs.

After the hearing, RSPCA inspector Barbara Kvalheim said Starsky had been found a new home and was doing well.