Tougher laws planned to combat ATV and GPS thefts

The government is set to introduce regulations later this year to combat machinery thefts, including mandatory forensic markings on all new ATVs and GPS units.

See also: Police call for tougher measures to combat rural crime

A Home Office call for evidence on the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act received more than 200 responses, which helped to inform the upcoming secondary legislation.

It considered the definition of ATVs and agricultural equipment, specifications for forensic marking, registration of machinery on databases, and the use of immobilisers.

Following the call for evidence, the government has decided to introduce regulations ensuring forensic markings are applied to all new ATVs and GPS units, with the relevant details registered on a database.

Policing and crime minister Sarah Jones said an estimated 900 to 1,200 quad bikes and ATVs were stolen in England and Wales each year.

She said: “They are desirable to steal, and, because of the lack of security features, vulnerable to theft.”

The introduction of forensic marking would make it harder for criminals to sell on stolen equipment, acting as a strong deterrent.

However, the government has decided not to include the mandatory fitting of immobilisers to new ATVs as part of the regulations at this stage.

It says this is because of “concerns about the compatibility of the requirement to fit an immobiliser with existing Type Approval regulations, designed to ensure the safety of vehicles”.

Larger agricultural machines will also not be included in the latest regulations, but the legislation may be expanded to include them in the future.

The NFU has welcomed the secondary legislation and the government’s recognition of the devastating consequences of rural crime.

NFU vice-president Rachel Hallos said: “The inclusion of removable GPS units in the legislation is a positive step forward, especially with GPS theft still on the rise and NFU Mutual’s latest report showing it cost over £4m last year.

“However, it’s disappointing that key measures like mandatory immobilisers for new ATVs, protections for larger agricultural vehicles or even GPS units integrated with larger machinery have been left out.

“While progress has been made, this response feels like a missed opportunity to deliver meaningful deterrents against the organised criminal networks targeting our sector.”