Watch out the Hedgecutters are about !

Chris Pattrickson suffered a punctured tube last Wednesday from a massive thorn after passing a hedge cutter trimming a hedge inside a field boundary near Plumpton. 
The flat tyre was only apparent a mile or two further down the road.
I rode the same lanes earlier on and was concerned about thorns scattered on the road as I passed the hedge cutter working in the field . 
I was lucky and didn't pick up any thorns.
Is the the first sighting of the dreaded hedge cutter in Cumbria?.
It's a bit like reporting the first Cuckoo to be heard in the country.