Rural crime sees farms turned into fortresses

Farmers take hi-tech steps to deter brazen thieves

Rural crime claims have risen by more than one-fifth in the first half of the year, a new report has suggested.

Despite a slight drop in the cost of such crime to just under £40 million last year, early claims statistics show a sharp increase in the first half of 2017, NFU Mutual said.

Releasing its annual report on rural crime across the four regions of the UK for last year, the insurer described farmyards being turned into fortresses to ward off “brazen” thieves.

It said farmers have taken high-tech steps including using infra-red surveillance and installing tracking devices on their tractors.

The apparent rise in the first half of 2017 compared to the same period last year is “deeply worrying”, Tim Price of NFU Mutual said.

England bore the brunt of the 2016 crime cost at just under £34m, while the cost to Northern Ireland was £2.5m, Scotland £1.6m and Wales £1.3m.

The north east of England was the worst affected area last year, with such crime costing more than £7m, an increase of almost 9% on 2015.

Lincolnshire came top for the worst affected county at £2,499,521, while Lancashire experienced a 40% drop in theft costs since 2015.

Tools and quad bikes were the most targeted items, with the cost of thefts of the latter rising to £2m last year.

Livestock theft cost an estimated £2.2m last year, falling everywhere apart from Wales, the report added.

Mr Price, NFU Mutual Rural Affairs Specialist, said: “While the fall in rural theft in 2016 is welcome news, the sharp rise in the first half of 2017 is deeply worrying.

“Countryside criminals are becoming more brazen and farmers are now having to continually increase security and adopt new ways of protecting their equipment.

“In some parts of the country, farmers are having to turn their farmyards into fortresses to protect themselves from repeated thieves who are targeting quads, tractors and power tools.”

He added that partnerships between police, farmers and rural organisations had helped tackle rural crime.

Quad bikes are among the most targeted items.