Police officers travel to farming and rural communities to help stamp out crime

From Wednesday, September 29 to Thursday. October 7, Lancashire Police's south rural taskforce will meet members of the farming and rural communities and share crime prevention information.

The main focus of the rural roadshow will be to property mark rural equipment, including GPS systems and plant machinery. Owners must provide proof of ownership before their property can be marked.

Among the places they will be visiting are NFU Skelmersdale, on White Moss business park in Skelmersdale, on Friday, October 1 and Corner House in Wrightington Bar on Monday, October 4. The mobile police station will be there from 10am to 3pm.

Rural, wildlife and heritage crime officer PC Paddy Stewart said: “Seventy-four per cent of Lancashire is rural so it’s important to us that we police these areas effectively. Rural crime covers an array of subjects, from hare coursing, badger baiting, through to plant, machinery and GPS theft. All of these have a massive impact on the farming communities. Talking to the residents in rural areas is key to our success. We want communities to tell us what their issues and concerns are so we can actively work to address them.

“We know these areas can also be targeted from criminals outside of Lancashire and we are working closely with partners and other forces to ensure information is shared and acted upon to bring serious repeat offenders to justice.”

The rural taskforce was set up in March with an additional 20 officers dedicated to rural communities across Lancashire. They provide extra resources to target, disrupt and address crime in rural areas.

So far it has recovered more than 152 stolen vehicles, pieces of farm machinery, plant or equipment, prosecuted more than 54 rural offenders and conducted 66 operations with partners.

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