RURAL crime cost Herefordshire an estimated £666,000 last year, a report by leading rural insurer NFU Mutual has revealed.

In its 2021 Rural Crime Report, published today (August 3), NFU Mutual found that as the pandemic helped to keep criminals out of the countryside, the county saw rural crime costs fall by 40%.

Across the whole of the UK, the 2020 rural theft bill totalled an estimated £43.3m in 2020, a fall of 20.3% on the previous year, making it the lowest annual cost recorded in five years.

However, highly-organised criminals continued to plague Herefordshire’s farmyards over the pandemic, stealing quad bikes, tools and livestock.

Farm thefts are regularly reported in Herefordshire, while just weeks ago, 25-year-old sheep thief Daniel Smith, of Upper Court, Sutton St Nicholas, admitted four charges of theft when he appeared before magistrates.

The court heard he had stolen 308 sheep worth more than £87,000 from a number of farmers in Herefordshire in December and January.

Other rural crimes, including dog attacks on livestock and fly-tipping rose sharply across the UK. The value of sheep and cattle attacked by dogs shot up by 10% in 2020 to £1.3m in a year which saw a surge in pet ownership and countryside visits. The situation continues to worsen as NFU Mutual claims data shows the cost of attacks rose 50% in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period last year.

One family told the Hereford Times this year that their 95-year-old father had six of his lambs killed after an out-of-control dog was running loose on his land.

Fly-tipping in fields, gateways and country lanes reached epidemic proportions as waste recycling centres restricted access, leaving farmers to deal with the clean-up and risks to their health and that of their livestock and the environment.

Across England, the largest regional fall was in the Midlands (down 25% to £7.9m) followed by the South West (down 24% to £5.1m); and the East (down 21% to £6.4m). In the South East, the cost was down 19% to £7.1m with the North East also seeing its rural theft bill drop 10% to £7.8m. Only one region, the North West, recorded a cost rise (up 3% to £3.7m).

Rebecca Davidson, Rural Affairs Specialist at NFU Mutual, said: “Coronavirus restrictions, beefed-up security on farms and effective rural policing provided a welcome fall in rural thefts last year.

“While lockdown may have locked some criminals out of the countryside – rural crime hasn’t gone away. Thieves are now returning armed with new tactics and targets. As the economic impact of the pandemic bites, we are very concerned that rural theft may escalate significantly.

“Last year saw sharp rises in other crimes such as dog attacks on livestock which caused appalling suffering to farm animals and huge anxiety for farmers and their families as they dealt with the aftermath.

“Organised criminal gangs also continued to target farmyards for high-value GPS systems, quad bikes and tractors with the UK cost of agricultural vehicle theft remaining at over £9million - only a 2% drop in cost from 2019.

“There’s no doubt that when we work together with police, farmers, communities and other rural organisations to tackle rural crime it can make a real difference. That’s why we’re investing over £430,000 in carefully targeted rural security schemes this year. The extra funding will help police join forces with local farmers, set up covert operations and recover more stolen machinery from countries across Europe.

“We believe this is vital support because rural crime isn’t just about money to replace stolen tractors. It causes disruption, seriously affects farmers’ mental well-being and destroys the trust which enables rural communities to flourish.

“With more and more people using the countryside, we are urging the public to support farmers and rural communities by reporting suspicious sightings and crimes to the police. Farmers in the South West have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic, keeping the nation fed and caring for the countryside. By working together, we can help stem the tide when the criminals become more active again.”

Over the past two years, NFU Mutual has invested over £850,000 in the fight against rural crime including a police UK-wide agricultural vehicle crime tracking and recovery unit. The National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NaVCIS) co-ordinates farm machinery theft intelligence between NFU Mutual, police forces, Border Force and Interpol.

For more information on rural crime trends and advice, download the report at www.nfumutual.co.uk/rural/crime