Report reveals rural thefts cost Devon and Cornwall £800,000 last year

It has been revealed rural thefts across Devon and Cornwall cost around £880,000 last year with a huge rise in GPS related crimes and stolen machinery across the region.

The recent Rural Crime Report by NFU Mutual out today (Tuesday 1 August), warns crimes across the UK have shot up 22%, costing £49.5m nationally in the last year.

Figures from their study shows a rise in crime in the South West region, with crimes costing £5m in 2022, a 16.6% rise since the year before.

Farmers and rural communities are being urged to ramp up security, with a background of soaring values and low supply of farm machinery worldwide.

Ian Maddever, Senior Agent at NFU Mutual Liskeard, said: “Highly-organised gangs are causing disruption to farming and widespread concern to people who live and work in the countryside.

“Rural theft is changing. It is not only opportunist thieves travelling a few miles, we are now seeing internationally organised criminal activity. These gangs target high-value farm machinery and GPS kits because they can be sold all over the world.

“Loss of vital machinery and GPS equipment causes huge disruption to farmers who are already stretched to the limit and replacing kit in the current economic situation can take months, adding additional stress.”

A survey of NFU Mutual Agents who are based in rural communities across the UK found 70% knew farmers who had been repeat victims of rural crime. And 86% said thieves are cashing in on the limited supply of vehicles and rising prices*.

The UK cost of GPS theft increased by 15% to £1.8m in 2022. However, the problem has sharply escalated in the first four months of 2023, with the cost of GPS theft doubling to over £500,000 compared to the same period last year.

Farms across Devon and Cornwall have also been targeted for the sophisticated equipment, which typically costs over £10,000 and is used to guide tractors and combine harvesters. Without it, farmers face severe delays and disruption to harvesting and cultivating work, with long waits for replacement kit.

In Dartmoor a project set up by Devon & Cornwall Police and supported by NFU Mutual has trialled a range of security measures and as a result none of the farms taking part in the pilot has suffered livestock theft.

Martin Beck of Devon & Cornwall Police’s Rural Crime Team said: “Any increase in the cost of crime is unwelcome and the NFU Mutual report is a reminder of that; although we live in a lower crime area compared with other parts of England we must work together and harder to tackle rural crime. The NFU Mutual report has showed how insurance claims to them have increased across England and Wales.

“Devon and Cornwall has seen crime reported in rural areas returning to what we saw before the Covid pandemic with the number of rural crimes reported to the police being similar to last year. With the price of goods rising the costs to insurers has subsequently increased. Insurers are also seeing claims for more high value goods being stolen and damage, such as farm tractor GPS, which have increased greatly in the past 18 months.

“We’re encouraging people to join our ‘Devon and Cornwall Alert Community Messaging’ service (https://alerts.dc.police.uk) which allows us to share crime prevention messages and crime appeals specific to where you live. We would also ask people to take the time to review their security and consider prevention as their first measure to prevent their property from being stolen.”

Ian Maddever added: “Many items are stolen ‘to order’ by thieves using online technology to identify where farm machinery is stored and scope out the best way to steal it. They will also spend hours watching the movement of farming families to work out the best time to attack.

“Those targeted by criminals may often second guess themselves in the aftermath of an incident as well as live in fear of repeat attacks on what is not only their workplace, but also their family home.

“That’s why we are working with farmers to help protect their livelihoods, sharing our advice and expertise as the main insurer of the UK’s farmers and offering support.”

You can see the full report and more information on rural crime trends on the NFU Mutual website.