This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Rural crime has hit a seven-year high, costing the UK £50m in 2018, a report says. In its annual study of offences against farmers and rural businesses, the insurer NFU Mutual found rural crime in 2018 was up 12% on the previous year.

The insurer said farmers and country people were having to deal with “repeated thefts by gangs who take advantage of farms’ isolated locations to steal machinery, raid tool stores and even butcher sheep in the fields”.

The report says the sharp rise was driven mainly by the theft of tractors, quad bikes and other farm vehicles, which was up 26% in 2018. The cost of agricultural vehicle theft claims to NFU Mutual rose by 26% to £7.4m in 2018.

Quad bike and other vehicle theft claims rose from £2.3m in 2017 to £2.6m in 2018. Claims for stolen livestock increased from £2.4m to £2.5m.

Tim Price, a rural affairs specialist at NFU Mutual, said the last time rural theft reached such levels was in 2011 when international gangs “took advantage of a largely unsecured countryside”.

“Today, we are seeing another rise as organised criminal gangs with links to money laundering and drugs find ways to beat security and steal farm vehicles,” he said.

The biggest increase in rural crime was in Scotland, up 62%, although its rural crime cost remained below the UK average.

The north-east had the second highest regional rise, at 25%, and East Anglia the third highest, 22%.

The cost of rural theft fell in two regions: Wales, down 7%, and the south-west, down 1%.

“In a single generation, country people have seen rural crime change from the opportunist theft of a single lamb to brazen heists of tractors worth over £100,000 and rustlers stealing hundreds of sheep,” Price said.

“We are even seeing agricultural vehicles being stolen to smash into village shops to rob cash machines. As well as causing huge structural damage to buildings, these raids can lead to shop owners not replacing ATMs for fear of further attacks.”