Farmers fortify their land to deter rural criminals

Police are helping landowners in the Cotswolds to build “medieval-style” natural barriers on their land to deter rural criminals.

Plant hire company Smiths of Gloucester has also been drafted in to help build trenches, bunds and embankments on farms.

Since the project started about two years ago, 9km of farm land boundaries have been protected and many more are due to be completed.

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The sizes of the earth barriers vary according to the farmer’s needs and the land. One farm, for example, has a 3ft high bund with a 2ft deep trench.

The farms that have built these barriers have seen a 100% immediate drop in vehicles entering their land for poaching, hare coursing and other theft-related crimes.

Some of the bunds that were created last year have already been covered in grass and wildflowers. Farmers are planting their bunds with hedgerows to add natural shelter, habitat and a source of food for wildlife.

Stockade fences and high-security single access points are also helping to fortify farms to keep criminals off land.

PC Ashley Weller, rural crime officer for the Cotswolds, from Gloucestershire Constabulary, is working with Smiths and landowners to deliver the project.

He said the concept was to look at non-conventional and historic methods of protecting land and structures in the countryside.

“I soon realised that the tried-and-tested method of forming bunds and ditches has worked for hundreds of years to protect forts and human settlements,” he added.

See also: Trench-digging farmer curbs poachers

Scheme a ‘win-win for all’

Under the scheme, Smiths remove top- and subsoil from new housing development sites in the county, leaving a clean, flat bed for houses to be built.

The soil is screened for contaminants and certified as safe. Once a site has been identified, a U1 (use of waste in construction) exemption is obtained from the government to allow soil to be dumped on that land.

The team also liaises with the relevant authorities to make sure their work is not disturbing any Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) habitat, healthy habitat in general or historically important sites.

“Smiths are a plant hire and refuse disposal company in Gloucestershire. As landowners themselves and a part of our rural countryside, they really wanted to help,” explained PC Weller.

“The scheme is a win-win for all. The police, taxpayer and landowner does not part with any money, as the scheme is 100% funded by Smiths.”

Operation Firefly

The project is part of Gloucestershire Constabulary’s Operation Firefly, which aims to tackle rural and wildlife crime and poaching in the Cotswolds.

According to rural insurer NFU Mutual, criminals stole £1.4m worth of farm machinery in Gloucestershire in 2017. The theft of quad bikes and ATVs rose by 13.4% in the county.

But officers say the latest scheme is helping to reverse this trend.