'Every day someone is hit': Shropshire farmers fighting 'unprecedented' levels of rural crime

Agricultural workers turned out in force to share their concerns with police at a rural crime event organised by NFU Mutual and the NFU at Bridgnorth Livestock Market.

Farmers said they are being targeted day and night, on a daily basis, with thefts of tools, machinery – anything from quad bikes to tractors – and fuel. Flytipping, vandalism and livestock theft are other crimes having a devastating impact on farmers and their livelihoods.

And officers from West Mercia Police urged victims to keep coming forward to help them tackle the growing problem.

Last year the Shropshire Star revealed how rural theft cost Shropshire an estimated £2 million in 2022 – a rise of more than double from 2021.

The data was revealed by NFU Mutual, who said organised crime gangs were stealing farm machinery and GPS kits worth tens of thousands of pounds to sell on in the UK and abroad.

The insurer said rural theft cost Shropshire £2,019,793, up 102 per cent from 2021 – while in Staffordshire thefts cost almost £1.7m, up by more than 77 per cent on the previous year.

Bridgnorth farmer Richard Yates said: "It's an extremely serious situation that is escalating at an alarming rate.

"I am in a WhatsApp group of local farmers and every single day someone in it is hit by rural crime, whether it is theft, flytipping, or hare-coursing. It's unprecedented and in all my farming life I have never seen it so bad.

"We are targeted on a daily basis and it's destroying livelihoods. I know people who have had up to £60,000 of tools taken.

"The more people try to deter them, the more determined these criminals are to steal things.