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Highly-organised gangs plague farmyards
HIGHLY-ORGANISED GANGS PLAGUE FARMYARDS
While the Covid-19 pandemic helped keep criminals out of the countryside, it also sparked a big rise in other crimes such as dog attacks and fly-tipping, insurer NFU Mutual has revealed.
Its Rural Crime Report points out that rural theft cost the UK an estimated £43.3m in 2020, the lowest annual cost recorded in fi ve years and a fall of 20.3% on the previous year. In the South East, a slightly lower drop saw the impact fall by 18.6% to an estimated £7.1m.
Although the pandemic kept some criminals away, highly-organised gangs continued to plague South East farmyards, stealing tractors, quad bikes, tools and expensive GPS equipment – not just costly to replace but leaving some farmers unable to work. NFU Mutual saw the UK-wide cost of claims for GPS almost double last year to £2.9m.
And while thefts fell, other crimes increased during lockdown. Fly-tipping in fi elds, gateways and country lanes reached epidemic proportions as waste recycling centres restricted access, while increased pet ownership and more visits to the countryside saw the value of sheep and cattle attacked by dogs climb 10.2% in the year to £1.3m.
The situation continues to worsen, with NFU Mutual claims data already showing that the cost of attacks rose 50% in the fi rst quarter of 2021 compared to the same period last year.
Colin Campbell, NFU Mutual Regional Manager for the South East, said: “Coronavirus restrictions, beefed-up security on farms and more eff ective rural crime policing provided a welcome fall in rural thefts last year.
“But while lockdown may have locked some criminals out of the countryside, rural crime hasn’t gone away. Thieves are now returning armed with new tactics and targets. As the economic impact of the pandemic bites, we are very concerned that rural theft may escalate signifi cantly.”
Mr Campbell said organised criminal gangs continued to target farmyards for high-value GPS systems, quad bikes and tractors, with the UK cost of agricultural vehicle theft remaining at over £9million, just 2% lower than in 2019.
“There’s no doubt that when we work together with police, farmers, communities and other rural organisations to tackle rural crime it can make a real diff erence. That’s why we’re investing over £430,000 in carefully targeted rural security schemes this year. The extra funding will help police join forces with local farmers, set up covert operations and recover more stolen machinery from countries across Europe.
“We believe this is vital support because rural crime isn’t just about money to replace stolen tractors. It causes disruption, seriously aff ects farmers’ mental well-being and destroys the trust which enables rural communities to fl ourish.
“With more and more people using the countryside, we are urging the public to support farmers and rural communities by reporting suspicious sightings and crimes to the police.”
Over the past two years, NFU Mutual has invested more than £850,000 in the fi ght against rural crime, including funding a police-led, UK-wide agricultural vehicle crime tracking and recovery unit. The National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NaVCIS) coordinates farm machinery theft intelligence between NFU Mutual, police forces, Border Force and Interpol.
