However, claims indications from the end of 2021 show a rise in the cost of rural crime in both the South West and England as a whole.

Initial indications from the insurer reveal the first quarter of 2022 has seen thieves making up for time lost over the pandemic, with UK costs over 40% higher than the same period last year. The surge follows a UK-wide drop of 9.3% to £40.5m in 2021. Farm vehicles remain a top target as Land Rover Defender, quad bike and trailer thefts continue to plague the countryside.

Last year, well-organised criminals continued to plague farmyards stealing high-value farm machinery as the UK cost of agricultural vehicle theft reported to NFU Mutual remained at over £9m. Land Rover Defender owners battled a barrage of crime as the rocketing value of second-hand cars and replacement parts saw thieves stealing the iconic British 4×4 vehicles and stripping them down, with the cost of claims shooting up by 87% to £2.6m nationally.

And although NFU Mutual saw the cost of stolen quad bikes and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) fall 11% to £2.2m in 2021, almost half of those thefts took place from September to December. As shipping delays and the effects of Covid and Brexit contributed to low supply and a rise in demand, thieves turned their sights back to these easily portable, hot-ticket items to capitalise on growing waiting lists and soaring market values.

Professional thieves were almost certainly behind a targeted bike raid on David Fear’s complex of 110 self-storage units he operates from his Dorset farm.

The raiders systematically forced 80 padlocks on lock-ups at the site near Shaftesbury before stealing six e-motorbikes, two moto-cross bikes and a mountain bike.

The six stolen e-motorbikes were among a dozen the 67-year-old former dairy farmer originally bought for hire to use on a race track he wanted to build at the 40-acre farm. He diversified from dairy farming 30 years ago at the site, where he also operates a stone masonry company and rents out business units.

But when the local council turned down the planning application for the track, he decided to forget the hire business and sell the bikes.

“It was six o’clock in the morning when I had a knock at the door and it was the owner of the two motocross bikes. He had fitted them with trackers and had got a message an hour earlier that they were on the move,” said David.

“I discovered the thieves had broken into our offices and found the key fob to the main door of the self-storage area. It meant they were easily able to get access to the lock up units.”

David said he was always very careful about showing potential customers a bike in the yard, rather than taking them inside the storage area. Despite this, he suspects that one customer told friends about his purchase and it eventually came to the attention of the thieves.

After NFU Mutual had swiftly settled David’s claim for the theft, police later managed to recover one of the stolen e-bikes, after it was registered with the DVLA.

“I had to pay to get the bike returned and there was an additional charge for the storage, but I was just glad to get it back,” said David.

Rustling has also become more lucrative for criminal gangs, and latest analysis shows farm animals worth an estimated £2.4m were stolen in 2021.

Soaring food prices could mean that livestock theft now increases, raising concerns about food security, animal welfare and people’s health due to stolen animals being slaughtered in unhygienic conditions.

The number of fuel theft claims received by NFU Mutual fell from 2020 to 2021, but with record high prices for diesel and heating oil, NFU Mutual claims data from the first half of this year indicates the frequency and cost of fuel theft claims have more than doubled compared to the same period in 2021. In a new poll of the rural community by NFU Mutual, almost half of respondents (49%) said that fuel theft was now their greatest crime concern.^*

Matt Uren, agent at NFU Mutual in Dorchester, said: “Our latest claims figures warn that rural theft is quickly gathering momentum as criminals make up for time lost over the past two pandemic years. We’re advising rural people to review their security to help prevent crime and disruption.

“With prices of essential farm equipment such as tractors and quads rising fast and the cost of diesel soaring over the past year, there’s little doubt that criminals will be trying to steal from farms. We also know that essentials of rural living like heating oil tanks will only become more attractive to thieves as costs rise. A recent poll by NFU Mutual reveals that 89% of respondents believe inflation will lead to an increase in rural crime.”

NFU Mutual in Dorchester, works with Dorset Police, farmers and the local community to share information to help tackle rural crime in the local area.

Matt said: “There’s no doubt that when we work together with police, farmers, communities and other rural organisations to tackle rural crime it can make a real difference. That’s why we’re working closely with police and the farming community to share information, help protect property and raise awareness.

“Crime in the countryside causes high levels of anxiety and disruption, with many farmers and rural homeowners feeling vulnerable due to their isolated location. The knowledge that determined thieves are scouring the countryside looking for targets, and returning to carry out night-time raids, leads to sleepless nights for many in remote areas.

“NFU Mutual is responding by helping those living and working in rural areas to put in place effective security measures and by continuing to provide major support to enable dedicated police resources to tackle crime.”

Superintendent Dean O’Connor of Dorset Police, said: “We welcome the reduction of rural crime related insurance claims by 16 per cent last year and have carried out significant investment in our rural crime capability to ensure we’re supporting our rural communities as much as possible.

“We recently more than doubled the number of dedicated officers and staff on the team alongside an investment in upskilling a network of neighbourhood officers across the force area with additional rural crime related skills and knowledge.

“The increase, which is part of the national police officer uplift programme, has enabled us to really focus on our relentless pursuit of criminality with recent prosecutions against four men for poaching offences in North Dorset, and the recovery of almost half a million pounds of suspected stolen plant machinery in a joint operation with Hampshire Constabulary.

“The investment has also enabled our officers and staff to be out and about in our rural communities providing crime prevention advice and engaging with local residents about the issues they face.

“We want to make Dorset a hostile place for criminals, so please get in touch with us if you have any intelligence about suspected criminality or dial 999 immediately if there is life in danger or a crime in progress.”

Last year, NFU Mutual invested £430,000 in rural crime initiatives. This includes support for an agricultural vehicle theft unit at the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NaVCIS) which recovered stolen vehicles and farm machinery worth £2.6m last year. The unit delivers intelligence, training, and works directly with police forces across the country to combat rural crime, in addition to joint international operations to seize stolen machinery from overseas.

Following increased investment with NaVCIS and one-off grants to help police tackle GPS theft, NFU Mutual saw the cost of this crime fall by almost half to £1.5m in 2021. Without GPS – an essential part of modern farming – harvests can be delayed, and some farmers left unable to work.

New advice on protecting rural property to avoid becoming a victim of rural crime is being made available to country people in NFU Mutual’s 2022 Rural Crime report and the insurer’s latest advice videos.

Matt added: “As each farm or home is different, every property needs a different approach to keeping thieves out – and there’s an armoury of measures to help do so from traditional fortification, to technology using movement sensors, to community information networks.”

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Ten worst-affected counties by cost based on NFU Mutual claims statistics:

Rank	County	2021	2020	% Change from 2020
1	Lincolnshire	£2,406,760	£2,545,570	-5.5%
2	Essex	£1,651,877	£1,683,052	-1.9%
3	Kent	£1,382,426	£1,445,717	-4.4%
4	Leicestershire	£1,235,802	£1,244,881	-0.7%
5	Suffolk	£1,178,428	£1,470,057	-19.8%
6	Gloucestershire	£1,162,932	£1,162,675	0.0%
7	Lancashire	£1,134,391	£1,484,103	-23.6%
8	Hampshire	£1,129,631	£1,305,965	-13.5%
9	Warwickshire	£1,121,075	£1,170,073	-4.2%
10	Shropshire	£996,283	£1,338,843	-25.6%