RURAL crime in Hampshire fell by more than half between 2014 and 2016 according to the latest figures from an insurance firm.
But it could be a different story this time next year as the cost of rural theft rose sharply during the first half of 2017.
Figures released by NFU Mutual show the cost of rural crime in Hampshire amounted to £710,000 in 2016, with tools, quad bikes and garden equipment being the most frequently stolen items.
Machinery has fallen from second to fifth on the thieves’ wish-list while 4x4s, livestock, trailers and horseboxes, oil, equine-related equipment and tractors complete the top ten.
While the figures may sound alarming, the price tag was £1m in 2015 and £1.7m in 2014, when Hampshire trailed Essex, Kent and Lincolnshire as the most rural crime-ridden county in the UK.
The bad news, according to the NFU Mutual 2017 Rural Crimes Report, is early theft claims statistics for the first half of this year show a sharp rise of 20 per cent nationally, raising concerns that a new wave of rural crime is hitting the countryside.
“Although the figures for rural crime in Hampshire are down, countryside criminals continue to become more brazen and farmers are now having to continually increase security and adopt new ways of protecting their equipment,” said NFU Mutual agent Patrick Govier.
“In some parts of the county, farmers are having to turn their farmyards into fortresses to protect themselves from repeated raids as thieves are targeting quads, tractors and power tools.”
He added: “The threat of becoming a victim of rural crime, and regular reports of suspicious characters watching farms is causing high levels of anxiety amongst farmers who know their rural location makes them vulnerable to attacks.”
Recent crimes around Clanfield have included the dumping of a toilet and other sanitary items in Hyden Farm Lane and the burglary of a property in Chalton Lane in which a number of high-value items were stolen.
For more details about the survey and advice on how to beat rural crime visit the NFU?Mutual’s website at: www.nfumutual.co.uk/rural crime