Hampshire County Council’s Countryside Service will provide extra eyes and ears to support Hampshire Constabulary’s Country Watch as part of a new partnership to tackle rural crime.
Hampshire is a predominantly rural county, and supporting rural communities has been a priority for many councils across the UK in recent months.
Councillor Andrew Gibson, Executive Member for Culture, Recreation and Countryside, said: “We wanted to work more closely with the Country Watch Team on issues relating to rural crime, and there seemed an obvious partnership between Country Watch and our Countryside Service, whose staff are frequently out and about in the countryside.
“The Countryside Service manages more than 7,400 acres and 3,000 miles of rights of way across the county. Locally-based teams have good knowledge of the areas they look after, and are in a good position to notice any changes or suspicious activity when out performing their duties.”
Hampshire - a rural county
Around 75% of Hampshire is classified as rural, and these areas are home to 300,000 people - 21% of the county’s total population.
As part of the partnership, Countryside Service staff will receive training from the Country Watch Team on signs of rural crime to look out for, to help gather intelligence and report incidents.
Around 20 Countryside Service vehicles will also be badged with the Country Watch logo to help give rural policing a more visible presence.
The newly branded Countryside vehicles were launched at the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police and Crime Commissioner’s Rural Communities Matter Conference at Sparsholt College near Winchester (10 February).
