| Security
Farmers forced to fight crime
with medieval fortifications
Farmers are combining medieval security with high-tech solutions to protect their farms from brazen criminals who are
responsible for the highest level of rural crime for four years.
n its 2018 Rural Crime Report,
published this month, leading
rural insurer NFU Mutual looks
at the impact that crime is
having on rural communities up
and down the UK. Overall, rural
crime cost an estimated £44.5m in 2017. With
an increase of 13.4% on the previous year, it is
rising at its fastest rate since 2010.
Across the UK, the cost of rural crime has
risen most sharply in Wales, up 41% on the
previous year, followed by the Midlands which
is up 32%, while the South East has seen a rise
of 30%. The cost of rural theft in Scotland has
fallen 3.8%, while the North East is the only
English region showing a fall, down 6.5%.
The report reveals that farmers are putting
up earth banks, dry ditches, stockade fences
and high-security single access points to fortify
their farms against criminals who use 4 x 4
vehicles to get onto farm land to commit crimes
and evade police. Protective animals such as
geese, llamas, and dogs are being used to
provide a useful low-tech alarm system, much
as they did hundreds of years ago.
“Faced with repeated and determined
attacks from a new breed of brazen thieves,
farmer