FARMERS in Wyre Forest have seen costs shoot up as they combat rising rural crime. 

Last year, rural theft cost Worcestershire an estimated £1.1m, up 42 per cent from 2021, according to insurer NFU Mutual.

The figure follows the national trend as 2022 rural crime costs across the UK shot up 22 per cent to an estimated £49.5m.

Some farmers have spoken of splashing out on extra security measures to protect their property.

James Binnion, owner of Bodenham Arboretum and farm, said that farmers are "dealing with people who haven't got a conscience."

Mr Binnion said a log splitter was once stolen from a field at the farm. When he received a new one through insurance, he requested it be painted pink to make it stand out if was stolen.

"We have taken steps to make it more difficult," he said.

"The other thing we get is opportunistic crime.

"It's so easy to do these things in the countryside - we are easy pickings.

"We've got electric gates, we've got cameras. All of this is a cost to us of course. Nobody else is going to pay for the security."

Alan Nott, of Bullockhurst Farm in Rock, said: "Things are so different now to what it was years ago. Everything has to be put under lock and key.

"We are easy targets really because we are in remote areas. People are very brazen these days.

"We had a quad bike taken - that was back in winter.

"With the cost of living going on these things could happen more frequently.

"There's an increased cost to us of course.

"We've got to try and do something to stop it."

Michael Pratt of Leapgate Farm and Leapgate Activity Centre in Wilden, said: "We've had to put in extra costs for more security cameras."

He's also invested in new security gates, doors and locks for the farm.

"It's an extra cost we don't really need," he added.

West Mercia Police has said that rural crime tends to go unreported and can have an impact on insurance premiums and food prices.