Police have been taking part in a coordinated rural crime crackdown across North Yorkshire.

A police week of action targeting rural crime has seen stolen property recovered, poachers sent to court and cross-border patrols stepped up, say North Yorkshire Police.

National Rural Crime Action Week ran from September 18. North Yorkshire Police's Rural Task Force carried out 58 different deployments to mark the campaign.

This included:

  • visits to rural business, including Northallerton, Skipton, York and Thirsk auction marts to provide crime prevention and targeting hardening advice
  • day and night poaching patrols across the whole force area, leading to a number of people being reported for poaching and road traffic offences, and vehicles being seized
  • arrests made and a large quantity of stolen property returned to its owners, including a quad bike taken from the Craven area and tracked to West Yorkshire. The investigation is ongoing.

The deployments were co-ordinated with police in Cleveland, West Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria forces to ensure criminals targeting rural areas couldn't travel between areas undetected.

Read more: 2023 Nidderdale Show at Pateley Bridge proves a winner

Officers from North Yorkshire Police's Rural Task Force also posted crime prevention videos about quad bike theft, premises security, mental health and wellbeing, livestock worrying and theft, and GPS equipment security. The videos were viewed on Facebook more than 21,000 times in total.

Inspector Mark Earnshaw, of the Rural Task Force, said: "This was a national week of action - but tackling rural crime remains daily business for the Rural Task Force and North Yorkshire Police as a whole.

"We're determined to disrupt and prosecute criminals who target our rural communities, and we'll keep working closely with partners organisations, volunteers and communities to drive down rural crime."