CHESHIRE'S police and crime commissioner has called on the manufacturers of agricultural equipment to ‘beef up’ technology to deter the theft of farm machinery.

Insurer NFU Mutual estimates the cost of rural crime in the UK increased by 4.3 per cent year-on-year in 2023, to £52.8 million.

PCC Dan Price told today’s (Friday) meeting of Cheshire’s police and crime panel he had been invited to join the board of the National Rural Crime Network and he would do his utmost to ensure the concerns of the rural communities were addressed ‘at the highest levels’.

PCC Dan PricePCC Dan Price (Image: PCC office) Mr Price said he had recently run a rural crime event attended by five of the county’s MPs, the National Farmers Union and the National Rural Crime Unit.

“We penned an open letter to agricultural equipment manufacturers as well as government, effectively calling for the beefing up of technology on equipment that is used in agriculture to deter the theft of it,” said Mr Price.

“The reality is we have got tractors, six figure value tractors and equipment in the county, that don't even have sort of the modern immobilisation and forensic marking on it that you could get on a £500 used car these days.

“We've really got to hold manufacturers to task on this, because they've got an awful lot to do to prevent the theft of equipment.”

He added: “We are also calling on government to make changes to the Equipment Theft Prevention Act by effectively including the mobilisation and forensic marking on such equipment.

“But of course, that sort of stuff does take time to come through, so I am keen to make sure that manufacturers hear first-hand that we are doing this, and it is definitely something that the National Rural Crime Network are lobbying for too.”