Rural crime

A sheepdog trialler has been left feeling devastated after four female sheepdogs worth approximately £13,500 were stolen from his kennels.

Livestock rustling remains a costly crime for UK farmers as new figures from the NFU Mutual reveal farm animals worth an estimated £2.3 million were stolen last year.

Farmers must be vigilant and ramp up their security measures following the rising spate in Land Rover Defender thefts, NFU Mutual and North Yorkshire Police have said.

Opportunistic crime is turning into organised crime as thieves target farm vehicles and GPS systems for lucrative markets online and overseas.

A man has been sentenced for the theft of sheep in the West Midlands earlier this year.

Thieves wielding crowbars broke into a farm and smashed their way into two milk vending machines, stealing cash from the farm’s honesty box.

Police have reminded farmers to be vigilant when undertaking online purchases after a farmer was scammed in a fake online tractor sale.

NFU Mutual has advised farmers to review their security measures as winter draws in, warning rural thefts could increase this year with fewer people out and about.

Farm fires left the industry with a £49.1 million bill in 2019 a five year high.

Seventy-nine sheep worth thousands of pounds have been stolen from moorland in North Yorkshire, sparking a police appeal for information.