Home Secretary Theresa May MP has praised an agricultural industry led crime initiative which brings farmers, auctioneers and the police together in an effort to put an end to livestock and machinery theft in the county.
“What is great about the initiative I’ve heard about today is that local farmers are taking it upon themselves to educate police officers about the agricultural industry in order to help tackle rural crime.”
Organised by the MP for Lancaster and Fleetwood, Eric Ollerenshaw, the Home Secretary visited NFU Lancashire County Chairman John Taylor’s Lots House Farm in Brookhouse, Lancaster to hear about the creation of a farmer support network – an idea which could be replicated nationwide.
Following a series of sheep thefts in Lancashire, the NFU met with local police officers to see what could be done to tackle the problem. The result has been the creation of a farmer support network which consists of members who have agreed to do the following:
NFU Lancashire County Chairman John Taylor explained: “There are also five auction markets operating in Lancashire plus one just over the border in Cumbria who have agreed to support our scheme. They have agreed to hold stolen livestock for a period of up to 48 hours when the police do not feel that they should move to their destination.
The Food Standards Agency has agreed to provide support to the initiative and provide intelligence back to the police through their work at abattoirs. They are working in partnership with the police to target illegal abattoirs operating across the county as these tend to be a route by which some stolen sheep are processed.
Mr Taylor’s Lots House Farm is also used as a venue for police training. Rural and wildlife crime officers have been identified across Lancashire and have attended on-farm training on awareness of the livestock industry as well as some basic livestock handling training - including tagging of sheep. They have also attended an auction market to get a better understanding of how and why stock move at certain times of the year and how they are traded.
A standard procedure has been created for the vast majority of police officers, who don’t have an interest in rural or wildlife crimes, to follow when sheep are stopped in transit and are believed to be stolen. All officers will have a standard pro forma set of questions (with suggested answers) to ask someone moving animals.
John added: “Previous to the network being set up a police officer stopping a livestock wagon full of sheep would be more interested in the vehicle’s lights and brakes than the stock because it was more familiar ground. Now it’s different. If an officer suspects something fishy regarding livestock being moved, that officer has a set of questions to ask and if they are not satisfied with the answers, they can request for a farmer from the network to assist them.”
