Crooks profit fromcountryside swoop

Rural crime cost the county more than £690,000 in 2016, a drop of 25 percent from £930,000 in 2015. But people living and working in Nottinghamshire have been urged not to be complacent.

Early theft claims statistics for the first half of this year show a rise of more than 20% nationally.

The findings have been published by leading insurer NFU Mutual in its 2017 rural crime report.

Andrew Smith, NFU Mutual senior agent, said: “Although the figures for rural crime in Nottinghamshire are down, countryside criminals continue to become more brazen and farmers are now having to continually increase security and adopt new ways of protecting their equipment.

“In some parts of the county, farmers are having to turn their farmyards into fortresses to protect themselves from repeated thieves who are targeting quads, tractors and power tools. They are using tracking devices on tractors, video and infra-red surveillance in their farm yards and even DNA markers to protect sheep from rustlers.”

The report reveals that being ‘staked out’ is the biggest worry for country people, followed closely by longer police response times in rural areas,

Andrew said: “Our advice to people living and working in the countryside is to regularly evaluate your current security measures making improvements where necessary, remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to police and farm watch schemes.”