Crime-hit farmers vow to take law into own hands

North Yorkshire farmers have warned police they will take the law into their own hands unless something is done about rising rural crime.

Night time trespass on some farms occurs at least five times a week, according to farmers in the region.

Derek Cornforth of Long Plain Farm, Hambleton near Thirsk, said that calls to local police were repeatedly ignored despite farms having suffered from criminal activity for more than a decade.

“The people who are unlawfully gaining access to our land – primarily to poach deer – have a wider criminal intent which has been proved by the spate of other crimes.

“Unless we get effective rural policing this situation will escalate and a rise in more serious crimes is inevitable – that’s our biggest fear,” Mr Cornforth said.

“We’ve said to the chief constable that we could take the law into our hands to protect our property,” he said.

For the past 10 years Mr Cornforth has carried out a programme of fencing, ditch-building and hedge planting in an attempt to reduce unlawful access.

“We have a policy of never leaving any machinery in the fields overnight. Everything always comes back to the farm and is locked away.

“We’ve had the workshop broken into, chemicals taken out of the chemical store and fuel tanks emptied,” said Mr Cornforth who has fitted padlocks to every gate on roadside fields on his 600-acre arable farm.

“We’ve had farm machinery damaged, farm buildings broken into and locks on field gates wrenched off to gain entry to land.

“But the police are reluctant to deal with rural crime and are more concerned with what’s happening in the market towns. Everywhere should be policed equally.”

Gamekeepers in the area are now undertaking regular night-time patrols and providing vehicle registration details to the police.

“But no matter who we give the information to, the police just say it’s from an area they are not responsible for,” said Mr Cornforth.

But a North Yorkshire Police spokesman said the force was doing all it could.

“Police are aware of the problems with poachers and trespassing in the area near Thirsk.

“Rural crime is a priority. We are doing all we can to address the problems. We welcome the information provided by local people and encourage them to continue to provide us with this valuable intelligence which is crucial in tackling this type of crime.