“THIS WON’T DRIVE US AWAY”

“It’s not just the value of what they take – it’s the emotional cost,” says Barbara Williams, whose partner Neville Jones had £3,000 of machinery stolen from their property in Worcestershire. “They took a chainsaw, hedgetrimmer and tools. These included a box of tools Neville had owned since he was an apprentice,” added Barbara. Despite being 10 miles from the nearest town and equidistant between Ledbury and Worcester, Barbara has no intention of moving. “I have always lived in the country and this won’t drive us away; we love living here,” she says.

However, the break-in has altered her perspective on security. “I don’t mistrust anyone here, people who walk past with their dogs, but it has made us up our game. We keep the gates pulled across, we have security lights.”

The downside to increasing security is isolation, says Barbara. “Farmers now keep their gates shut all the time; so if you drove past a farm you used to pop in for a cup of tea, now you might assume the farmer is out. It means they just don’t see people.”