Rural crime surge costs Kent farmers nearly two million pounds according to NFU
Kent is one of the worst counties in England it's something Kent's Police and Crime Commissioner says he's making a priority.
Oliver Leader De Saxe reports
Oliver Leader De Saxe reports
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00:00Heavy machinery, fertilizer, livestock.
00:04For Steve Jones, who runs Comority Farm in Mepham, this is a way of life.
00:10But increasingly, these objects have found themselves a target for the county's criminals.
00:16They'll take anything. Seriously. Livestock, machinery, vehicles, fertilizer.
00:24We never used to take the keys out of any vehicles. When I was younger,
00:27every vehicle had the keys in it, because somebody might need to move it,
00:30or somebody might need to borrow it, so you didn't think. But you couldn't do that now,
00:34even if we're out in the middle of a field. We can't leave a tool now. If we're using tools,
00:39we can't leave them. We'll have to, if you're moving something, you've got to pack everything
00:43away and lock it up, or just somebody will take it. Rural crime is costing Kent farmers nearly
00:51£2 million a year. For farmers like Steve, that's a huge impact on their bottom line.
00:59Kent is the fifth worst impacted county in England for costs of thefts based on claims,
01:06according to a new report from insurance firm NFU Mutual. It comes as the wider south-east
01:13saw farmers reeling from nearly £9 million of financial damage in 2023.
01:21Given the economic costs, the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner says
01:26tackling rural crime is a top priority for the force.
01:31I know that farmers are already investing in protection, so they are installing CCTV.
01:36Our new rural PCSOs are visiting them to help them implement smart water in order to protect
01:43their equipment and using various tracking devices so that if something does get stolen,
01:48we have a better chance of recovering it. You'll see a lot more of that in the coming months. We're
01:53keen to invest in supporting our rural community. The farmers are doing their bit and the police are
01:59doing theirs, and we just have to keep up that momentum. With the cost of crime being so evident
02:04in the garden of England, it's clear Kent police need to continue to find new ways to tackle
02:10farmers' fears. The alternative is being left behind in the dust by the county's criminals.
02:17Oliver leaves the sats for KMTV in Mepham.