Stolen kit back with its owners
4 April 2000
Stolen kit back with its owners
AN ANTI-THEFT initiative for machinery, which recently teamed up online with FWi, has recovered 19 pieces of stolen kit in the past month.
The National Plant and Equipment Register (TER), which with FWi launched the Theftline website last month, reunited pieces of kit worth 54,000 with their rightful owners in March.
Recovered machinery includes a 14,000 John Deere 6600 tractor, a Komatsu P70 wheel loader valued at 12,000, a JCB 801 mini excavator worth 3000 and about a dozen Ifor Williams trailers.
Theftline seeks to work with owners and authorities to protect and recover everything from tractors, combines and ATVs to stock trailers, horseboxes and generators.
Farmers and machinery dealers who pay to register with Theftline have their machinery put on a TER database which the authorities have free access to.
If police or customs come across suspect kit, they can cross-reference it against the database and increase chances of reuniting it with its rightful owner.
In addition, the service also offers access to a TER database of machinery which has been stolen.
Among items registered stolen in March were a John Deere 6810 and New Holland 8340 tractors, and a Honda 3000 quad bike.
Farmers or dealers thinking of buying a piece of machinery can pay a fee to access this database to check its credit status and whether it is registered as stolen.
And to ensure this database is as up-to-date as possible, making it harder for criminals, Theftline users can register a stolen item free of charge.