Dr Alan Billings, the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner met members of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) to discuss rural crime and policing matters on Wednesday, 26 April.

The NFU was represented by county chairman Rachel Hallos, group secretary Philip Musson and county adviser Amy Morrison. Dr Billings was accompanied by Chief Inspector Mark James, the South Yorkshire Police lead for rural crime.

Dr Billings and Chief Inspector Mark James explained that South Yorkshire Police were taking fresh initiatives to tackle rural crime and currently 24 officers are being trained to have a rural focus.  The force has also recently run a rural operation in the Penistone area to engage with the farming community with more planned for the future.

The Commissioner said: “Although South Yorkshire Police is predominantly an urban force, there are large areas of the county that are rural and they need to have their fair share of police resources.

“I am pleased that the force is training specialist officers and running rural Duxford operations – when resources are heavily concentrated for a period of time. In the recent Penistone operation, 50 farms were visited and packs of information and advice were left with farmers.

The issues discussed ranged from hare coursing to theft of agricultural vehicles and machinery, as well as the problems caused by quad bikes and fly grazing.

Chief Inspector Mark James advised that the key to a successful bearing down on rural crime would be for the police to have more intelligence as a result of the full co-operation of farmers and those in rural communities. Working more closely together was the key.

NFU county chairman, Rachel Hallos, said: “We were pleased to get the opportunity for a second meeting with Dr Billings and hear about plans by the police to give a higher priority to rural crime – which I know has a real impact on farm businesses across the Force area.

“I was pleased to hear that police officers are making  themselves much more visible in rural areas and making contact with local farmers to establish the closer links that are crucial in tackling crime in more remote areas.

“From an NFU perspective, we will do all we can to work with South Yorkshire Police and urge farmers in the area to respond and in particular ensure all incidents of rural crime are reported so that the police have an accurate picture of what’s happening on the ground.”