THREE people have been arrested as police descended on a village near Hereford to recover a stolen digger.

The police helicopter was involved in the operation to recover the mini digger stolen from Ewyas Harold on Sunday.

The helicopter was flying over Clehonger at around 8pm on Tuesday evening (September 1) and several police vehicles were on the ground.

Hereford Times:

The mini digger was believed to have been taken from farm land in Ewyas Harold in the early hours of Sunday, August 30.

West Mercia Police officers arrested three people in connection with the incident and they remain in custody.

Officers said rural crime can have a huge impact on the communities, business and the individuals we serve and West Mercia Police is committed to tackling it.

PC Sarah Smith said: “We are so pleased for the farmer that we have recovered the mini digger. This successful recovery of equipment would not have been possible without the help from our rural community.

“Working closely with our rural communities is important to us and I’m really pleased that through projects such as We Don’t Buy Crime and work done by the whole rural and business team that we’re able to understand the issues that affect them and work with them to resolve these.

Over the next few months we will be visiting farms throughout the county offering them the opportunity to get involved with our latest initiatives to help make their land even safer.”