Rural crime: Machinery thefts

Freedom of Information

If you have experienced crime in your area call your local police force or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

FG sent requests to all the police forces in the UK under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The Act allows the public access to information from public bodies.

We asked 51 police forces excluding City of London to provide information on thefts of livestock, tractors, all terrain vehicles (ATVs) other farm equipment, machinery and fuel including red diesel.

Most forces record crime data in different ways and some forces asked us to point out that some data may not be 100 per cent accurate. Other factors also have to be taken into consideration such as the amount of farms and rural communities in a force area and how far the area spans.

Under the FOI Act, public bodies have the right to refuse information if the cost of gathering the data would go above £450 which equates to 18 hours’ work. FG was unable to obtain information from the following police forces: Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset, North Yorkshire, South Wales, and Northern Constabulary in Scotland.

The statistics from the 45 police forces which answered the request showed almost every force UK-wide had seen some form of increase during the period October 1 to March 31 2009/2010 and October 1 to March 31 2010/2011.