Farm buildings at risk from tractor thieves

09:04:20 23rd April 2010

Farm buildings should be kept securely locked to reduce the risk of tractor theft, farmers have been advised.

The Eastern Daily press reports that Lincolnshire police believe organised gangs are stealing tractors worth as much as £100,000 from farm buildings to sell the parts to other countries.

A cross-border tractor squad has been established by the police to prevent these thefts which can cost farmers and insurers millions of pounds.

Dave Sargent, head of Lincolnshire's Spalding Vehicle Crime Unit, told the newspaper: "This is a real emerging trend. These types of crimes are a huge blow to farmers and the local rural economy as a whole."

He asks people who use rural roads to report any sightings of tractors being driven at night in a convoy.

These warnings follow a spate of tractor thefts including two that occurred on April 20th. Two John Deere tractors were stolen in separate incidents at farms in Sutton Bridge and Sutton St.James.

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