Rural Policing Team On Track To Recover £1m Of Stolen Machinery

Leicestershire’s Rural Policing Team is on track to recover stolen property totalling £1m in less than a year.

Farm equipment and plant machinery, including items taken from Weston by Welland, Smeeton Westerby and Glooston, have been among the haul found by officers and returned to owners.

A significant number of arrests have also been made.

The team launched in 2021 and was expanded from three to eight officers a year ago, in a bit to further target criminals preying on rural communities.

Six months later, the budget from Police and Crime Commissioner Rupert Matthews funded a further five officers to the team, all with a background in farming and a determination to tackle issues which disproportionately affect rural and farming communities including machinery theft, wildlife and heritage crime.

Mr Matthews, who declared rural crime as a top priority in his Police and Crime Plan, spoke to HFM:

Rupert Matthews with Pc Kelly Tones from the Rural Policing Team

Currently, the PCC is keeping the size and resources of the Rural Crime Team under review and has pledged to support expansion should that prove necessary.

Insp Neil Whittle, who leads the Rural Crime Team, added: “We are making tremendous progress in the retrieval of stolen farm equipment and vehicles and it is a really positive step when we are able to return goods to farmers.

“Most of the equipment stolen is not only expensive but essential to Farming work and can be hugely impactive on farmer’s ability to run their business.

“We can’t underestimate the impact this type of theft has and we at the rural crime team are working hard to draw out those criminals who seek to steal this equipment.

“We are working hard to engage with our rural communities and listen to their concerns, tackling the type of crime which is unique to rural areas. The team are committed to their work and bringing criminals to justice and preventing rural crime where possible.”