Published: 11th Feb 2010 by Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council on there news page.

REDCAR & Cleveland’s rural community have joined police and other partners in a bid to tackle countryside crime by holding their annual Farm Watch meeting.

Up to 50 people attended the main hall at Laurence Jackson School on Monday evening (1st February) to hear about the scheme, which runs along similar lines to Neighbourhood Watch.

It has around 200 members in a co-ordinated system where members can pass information via the police to each other about crime and other concerns relating to farming and rural communities.

Current members of the Farm Watch scheme were invited, as well as anyone else with an interest in protecting their property, land or business from crime.

Police, partner agencies and residents established policing priorities for outlying areas at the meeting and given an overview of work done so far, which included several operations including Operation Scrambler, which has been a major success in stopping off road vehicles in the whole of East Cleveland.

Neighbourhood Policing Officers were joined by farmers and smallholders from the Guisborough and East Cleveland areas, as well as gamekeepers, estate managers, Fisheries and Forestry officials, colleagues from North Yorkshire Police, Redcar & Cleveland Borough Councillors.

The scheme has also been successful in putting together a constituted organisation called Countryside Watch to promote the Farm Watch, and to work with the farmers and all those agencies that have an interest in rural life.

East Cleveland PCSO Paul Payne of Guisborough Police said: said: “The purpose of the Farm Watch scheme is simple: we want to reduce the occurrence of countryside crime, to increase the likelihood of detection of crime when it does occur and we want to discourage criminal activity in the countryside.

“Cleveland Police is committed to policing our rural areas effectively and efficiently and to do that we want to engage with people living there – and to hear what they want, expect and deserve from us.

“I’d urge people to come along to these meetings – By extending the scheme we will have more eyes and ears – and therefore more information – where it counts. This will help us to police rural areas more effectively and in partnership with the people and organisations based there.”

Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council Leader Councillor George Dunning, whose portfolio covers rural affairs, said: “I welcome this initiative of partnership working to assist the rural community in combating crime in the countryside.

“Countryside Watch is an extension of the already successful Farm Watch scheme and we are confident it will be successful.”