11 January, 2002

John Sheard discusses ways of defending rural property - and, at worst, persons - as rural crime rates soar.

WHEN I was nobbut a lad, I spent many a happy holiday with an elderly great aunt and uncle farming couple who lived in a wonderful 17th Century farmhouse. It had a huge oak front door which I scarcely had the strength to push open.

That door was probably made in Cromwellian times and it would have withstood a battering ram - if, of course, it was ever locked. It wasn't in my day because, according to legend, the key had been lost when Queen Victoria was on the throne and no one had bothered to replace it.

Those were the days when most country folk left their doors on the latch in case a neighbour dropped by. To do so today would be madness because, sad to say, rural crime is now one of this once peaceful land's great growth industries.

The reason for that is simple: neighbourhood watch schemes in towns and suburbs, combined with better anti-burglar measures on homes and cars, have driven urban thieves into the countryside.

At the same time, rural police forces are strapped for cash as never before. North Yorkshire police, with the largest county area in England to patrol, are amongst the hardest hit when it comes to financial resources.

Nationally, this has led to some highly controversial incidents: the farmer sent to jail for shooting a young thief, the refusal over this New Year of police in Lincolnshire to move on a gang of some 70 party-goers who simply took over a farm and its buildings to stage their "rave" - without bothering to ask the owner's permission.

Country Watch attempts to involve farmers and police working together to safeguard property

This has left many country folk feeling very insecure and, quite frankly, the police can do very little about it except helping the creation of countryside watch schemes. In other words, they need public support - and public common sense - if they are to stay the rising tide of crime. This week, the Yorkshire branch of the Country Land and Business Association (the CLA) issued a warning to members and advice on how not to be a victim of thieves.

Some of this advice is so straightforward that you would expect people to do it without thinking. But they don't. Things like, not just locking doors on houses and barns, but also never leaving keys in parked farm vehicles. These are a major target, with those 4 x 4 buggies being highly prized.

Stables, too, are a magnet for thieves: riding tack is expensive and easily re-saleable at dozens of less-respectable riding schools on the fringes of urban areas. Some thieves will even take the mounts, too, so get them freeze-branded.

But the CLA goes into even more detail which, although regrettable, may save you money in the long run. It recommends lifting cattle grids that can be locked upright, closed circuit TV systems on busy stock yards, and never leaving farm machinery in fields, particularly close to roads.

Perhaps most important of all is constant vigilance by country folk as they go about their business. It is not possible for a farmer to watch his fields day and night but farm watch schemes are growing up everywhere where neighbours take it in turns to patrol their districts, keeping an eye out for strange vehicles in suspicious places. The registration numbers of these should be taken and reported to the police.

All this is very, very sad: the English countryside, Colditz style. But there is one bright side: a country watch scheme I know, started a couple of years ago by neighbours equipped with mobile phones, has become the nucleus of a thriving social club, bringing people closer together in the face of a common enemy.

It might not be the ideal way of knitting scattered communities together. But if it does so - and helps beat the criminals - then it is well worth doing. Sadly, however, none of us will ever again be able to leave our front door unlocked for a century or more …