The cost of rural crime to the UK economy costs £42.5 million a year, according to a new report released today by NFU Mutual.
NFU Mutual’s annual Rural Crime Report shows that despite little change overall, regionally, there were still winners and losers in the war on rural crime.
The worst affected regions remain the North East and East of England, with claims costing £7.9 and £6.9 million respectively.
The Midlands and Northern Ireland saw the biggest rises, on 2014, with costs increasing by ten and 13 per cent.
According to the leading rural insurer, the items most commonly targeted by thieves across Leicestershire over the last 12 months were machinery, farm tools and horseboxes and trailers.
Tom Shepherd, NFU Mutual Senior Agent in Leicestershire said: "Rural thieves are becoming increasingly sophisticated and using computers rather than bolt cutters to steal from farms and country properties.
"Farmers and police have been working hard to adopt high-tech security measures to tackle the problems which now include: cloning tractor identities, advertising non-existent machinery in agricultural publications and stealing the GPS computer systems which are a key part of modern farming."
Growing trend of stolen 4x4s
There has been a shift in the items being targeted at rural homes as well; in the latest survey of NFU Mutual’s agency network, the theft of garden equipment was sited as the biggest growing trend along with 4x4s.
"However, it’s reassuring to see levels of rural crime falling in Leicestershire, and reflects the huge efforts being made by anti-crime schemes throughout the countryside."
The majority of NFU Mutual Agent’s surveyed (65%) also reported that thieves in their area are becoming more sophisticated in the way that they operate and cyber crime is also a growing concern amongst their communities.
The survey also revealed that social media is now the main resource for sharing information about crime in rural communities and is a valuable tool – not only in the prevention of rural crime but also for catching criminals and returning stolen goods.
"Our advice to people living and working in the countryside remains the same; evaluate your current security measures making improvements where necessary, remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the local police but also community watch schemes, concluded Tom."
