Thieves are targeting farmers and owners of large agricultural and plant machinery, such as tractors and quad bikes, Norfolk police said. Farmers in Norfolk report offences ranging from machinery theft to livestock rustling and arson at least once a day. Launching Operation Randall, the police are now asking farmers to install Vehicle Tracking, to deter this theft.
About 75 such crimes have been reported since the beginning of the year. The thieves have stolen tractors, generators, quad bikes and ride-on lawn mowers, mainly in Breckland and South Norfolk. Owners were being advised to tag or track their equipment and keep an up-to-date record of machinery. In Suffolk 505 offences were reported last year and in Cambridgeshire the figure stood at 421.
Police have begun an attempt to reduce these types of thefts called Operation Randall. Det Supt Nick Dean said: “The numbers of high value thefts may on the face of it appear low. However, the impact that these types of offences have is considerable, ranging from loss of earnings to losing the ability to actually farm the land properly”.
The Randall team has already carried out a number of high profile operations. These including working with agencies like Revenue and Customs, the Environment Agency and the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency to check more than 2,400 vehicles for suspicious activity near Downham Market and Terrington using number plate recognition.
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