A specialist rural taskforce in Northumberland is celebrating its third anniversary, recovering over £1.25m worth of stolen equipment and vehicles.

The Rural Crime team, established in 2020, has been instrumental in tracking down stolen property and returning it to their rightful owners.

It has seen a 20 per cent reduction in the number of reported stolen All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) compared to the same period last year.

Operating under Operation Hawkeye, the team works alongside partners and volunteers, with volunteers increasing by 11 since the start of this year.

One focus has been combating poaching offences, which have declined 31 per cent since the beginning of this year, compared to the same period in 2022.

The success of the team is largely attributed to the Northumberland Partnership Against Rural Crime (NPARC), which brings together partners from various fields to protect rural communities.

Meetings are regularly held, allowing the partners to develop action plans addressing issues such as wildlife and fish poaching, agricultural theft, fly-tipping, vehicle anti-social behaviour, and vulnerability in rural areas.

Inspector Garry Neill, head of Northumbria Police's Rural Crime Team, said: “I am immensely proud of everything the team, volunteers, and partners dedicated to fighting rural crime have achieved in such a short space of time since the Rural Crime Team was created.

“We all share one common goal – to protect our rural communities – and I hope those communities can see the hard work and dedication which has already gone into achieving these extremely promising results.

“However, our work is far from over, and we’ve got many more plans in place to ensure those successes continue and grow over the coming years and months.”

“Our message to criminals thinking of targeting those who live in the most remote areas of the region is clear – you will be seen, you will be caught and you will be brought to justice.

“As ever, we’re reliant on the public to be our eyes and ears across rural Northumberland and implore anyone who sees something that doesn’t look or feel right, to get in touch with us. You never know what you could be preventing.”