Talks to help Shropshire farmers in fight to deter criminal gangs

They are now discussing ways to make the best use of immobilisers, tracking devices and forensic marking kits.

Market Drayton, Whitchurch and Wem NFU group secretaries Rebecca Millard and Andrew Bowker have held talks with farmers and said although there was a cost, more and more were considering improved tech to help protect their farms.

Rebecca said: “Trackers offer real-time monitoring of a vehicle and notification of unauthorised movements and I know more of our members are seriously considering having these fitted. They are also looking at immobilisers and forensic marking.

"They can be a vital tool if a tractor, quad bike or vehicle is stolen as the GPS technology means vehicles can be located quickly enabling their safe return.

"Since 2021 the Midlands has seen a 30 per cent hike in the cost of rural crime and driving factors appear to be a shortage of farm vehicles and rising prices. In Shropshire rural theft cost more than £2 million in 2022 up 102 per cent from the year before and this is very worrying and we need to work with the police to deter those responsible.”

Mr Bowker said the NFU and rural insurer NFU Mutual had success last year, working with the Home Office National Rural Crime Unit on seeing new powers brought in through The Equipment Theft (Prevention) Bill.

“The legislation, to prevent the theft and resale of quads and ATVs (All Terrain Vehicles), is a welcome tool in the fight against rural crime,” he added.

“This will help to facilitate the roll-out of crime prevention kits and there is a registration database to give further support to the police, when reuniting stolen vehicles with their owners.

“We know farmers are looking at bolstering security if they can afford to do it and we are keen to hear their concerns so we can work together with our rural police officers to protect our family farms.”

Farmers and industry representatives also turned out in force in January to NFU and NFU Mutual meetings at Bridgnorth Livestock Market and in East Shropshire.

Officers from West Mercia Police at the meetings urged the rural community to help gather intelligence, report suspicious incidents and report crime.

Shropshire NFU chair Graham Price who farms near Ludlow saw his vehicle stolen last month and said he was lucky it was recovered but many farmers were still counting the cost of rural theft.

“We were able to work with the police to get the vehicle back and actually located it using a farmer What’s App group that I am a part of,” he said.

“Anything that we can do to help the police stop these highly organised gangs of criminals plaguing the British countryside is vital and new technology and ways of communicating have an important role to play.

“Livestock, high-value farm machinery and expensive GPS equipment keep getting taken, as well as people trespassing on private land and we regularly see other issues that blight rural areas, like fly-tipping.

“Rural crime can have a devastating impact on farms and it can cause serious disruption and problems for farmers, their livestock and crops.

“I have held talks with Police and Crime Commissioner for West Mercia, John Campion, and he also addressed members at our annual general meeting.

“This gave county farmers a chance to voice their concerns direct but more needs to be done.

“We appreciate the police are doing their best with the resources available and if we can help then we will play our part.”