Farms left in fear for safety as rural crime spate across Yorkshire prompts joint police response

Following the development of intelligence, and working closely with Cleveland Police, specialist North Yorkshire police resources have been deployed to the area in the effort to detect and deter travelling thieves.

This includes officers from the Rural Task Force, Roads Policing Groups, Operational Support Unit, Firearms Support Unit, the Dog Unit and the National Police Air Service.

They are working with the local Neighbourhood Policing Teams to help reassure concerned and worried members of the farming community, providing crime prevention support, and advice on how best to report such incidents to the police.

Det Insp Phil Giblin, from the Scarborough Investigation Hub, said: “The cross-border criminals are causing misery and fear among the farming community in the Whitby and Ryedale areas. This is abhorrent and simply cannot be tolerated.

“Together with our colleagues at Cleveland Police, we are continuing to deploy extensive resources in our collective effort to arrest and bring the suspects to justice.

“Our approach is relentless and any criminals heading our way can expect to be locked up by North Yorkshire Police or by Cleveland Police when they are pursued over the border.”

Elsewhere in North Yorkshire, police in Richmondshire are investigating the theft of 20 strimming machines worth thousands of pounds from a farm at Eppleby in the early hours on Saturday January 14 where a shed was broken into.

There has also been a spate of burglaries in the Skipton area including the theft of a distinctive quadbike from a farm.

The 2007 model red Honda 250-TMZ has a broken front right spring and cracked rear mudguards and was taken from a farm near Bradley during the early hours of Monday January 9 when an outbuilding was forced open. The suspects also made off with machine tools.

Another burglary was reported at a farm near the A59 Harrogate Road on the same day after a JCB digger was damaged during an attempt to steal a quadbike. The suspects made off with a Milwaukee chainsaw.

Cleveland Police joined forces with North Yorkshire Police Rural Task Force to conduct cross-border patrols to tackle rural crime overnight between January 17 and 18.

They recovered a 4x4 vehicle suspected to have been involved in rural crime in Middlesbrough. It was pursued from North Yorkshire to Cleveland and enquiries are currently ongoing to trace the suspects who fled.

A suspected stolen quad bike was also seized from the Flatts Lane area of Normanby, between Guisborough and Middlesbrough. It is believed to have been stolen from the Durham area in September 2022 and enquiries are ongoing in relation to this.