The East spent 6.4 million pounds on tackling rural theft last year
That’s down 20%, compared to 2019, where over 8 million was spent.
Many farmers across Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire say they are 'living in fear' that they're being watched by rural criminals.
There's growing concern that rural criminals are 'smarter' than they were before the coronavirus pandemic.
Insurance specialists believe thieves are using E-Scooters to sneak on to farms and steal GPS systems-with insurance claims nearly doubling for this equipment in 2020.
Kay Henderson is from the National Farmers Union Mutual Insurance Society Limited: “It’s not just about the cost implications of these incidents, but we’ve got farmers unable to carry out their work because in essential piece of kit has been taken- so that’s days out of their working lives.
"Then there’s families that feel unsafe in their own homes because they’re used to that used to the idea of being scoped out and watched by criminals.
“It’s still really plaguing the countryside.
“We’ve seen more international linked crime as well. We recover vehicles from as far field as Poland and Lithuania. It’s more sophisticated and organised by the year”.
Cambridgeshire had second highest amount of claims for rural crime claims last year, amounting to a total of £2,017,744.
While, Suffolk was fourth, with £1,439,629 being claimed for.
The Eastern region spent The East spent 6.4 million pounds in total on tackling rural theft last year.
That’s down 20%, compared to 2019, where over 8 million was spent.