Farm machinery targeted by thieves

There has also been 17 quad bike thefts, eight battery thefts and seven trailer thefts over the same time period, it has been revealed today.

And now police officers have met with farmers to look at ways of combatting rural crime and engage with the farming community.

The initiative, at Shrewsbury and Oswestry livestock markets, was led by Shropshire officers and aimed to offer crime prevention advice including machinery tagging.

Pontesbury-based police constable Ross Cookson, of the safer neighbourhood team, and rural and business crime officer Philippa Jackman-Day attended four Shrewsbury sessions with Hanwood farmer Andy Bebb.

A session was also held at Oswestry last week, with others planned, and this was led by the officers and NFU group secretary Stuart Chacksfield.

PC Cookson said: “Being at the livestock markets are a great way to talk directly to farmers about the issues.

“From a policing point of view this is about having a presence at the livestock market, breaking down any barriers and encouraging people to come and speak to us, which they have done.

“It helps having farmers on the stand as it encourages others to come over and there are some areas in the county where items are going missing and we want to be able to engage the community about that.

“Quad and all-terrain vehicle (ATV) theft is spiking a little which is why it’s so important to discuss crime prevention and measures like tagging as an option.

“It’s always worth farmers speaking with us, making contact and building relationships as well as reporting incidents because it helps us to take action.”

Police were joined by Matt Clarke, of Shrewsbury-based Clarke 4x4 Ltd, who discussed ATV TRAC which uses mobile technology so farmers can monitor the movement of their vehicles and machinery in real-time.

The events have also been attended by retired police sergeant Arthur Jones, who operates the front counter at Pontesbury and is heavily involved in Neighbourhood Watch.

Jonathan Evans, NFU county adviser, said the livestock market sessions had worked well and he called for farmers to remain vigilant in rural areas, join Farmwatch schemes and keep an eye out for suspicious people or vehicles.

In an emergency farmers are encouraged to call the police on 999 or the alternative emergency number 112 and if a matter is urgent, but not an emergency, then they can dial 101.

Anyone with information about rural crime can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or fill in a form at crimestoppers-uk.org online.