THE shocking news, over the weekend, that over a dozen wild deer were shot by poachers in the Wyre Forest, and their bodies abandoned where they lay, has highlighted again the scourge of rural crime. Being what is termed a “semi-rural” constituency, rural crime is not the biggest item in my mailbox, but for those who suffer it, it is a very big deal.

Rural crime is anything that is a crime that is not in an urban area. That includes everything – murder, domestic abuse, theft, wildlife crime, fraud, and all other crime. Interestingly, in 2017/18 there were only 16 wildlife crimes recorded in the whole of West Mercia, of which just 3 were poaching.

However, the term rural crime conjures up images of people sneaking into farmyards and making off with farm machinery, or scrap metal. Or, dumping rubbish on farm land. Both are frequent problems and I meet with the NFU on a regular basis to discuss this and a variety of other issues. In the last few years, I have arranged for the NFU and their members to meet with West Mercia Police to look at ways of further working together to get rid of this problem.

West Mercia Police take this seriously. They have prioritised an extra £150,000 this year for additional rural and business crime officers. A further £25,000 has been allocated for their Rural Matters campaign, aimed at tackling and preventing rural crime. The atrocity of the slain deer will be tackled by the new team of dedicated wildlife officers, two of which are covering north Worcestershire, one of whom is based in Kidderminster.

Furthermore, West Mercia value the effectiveness of front line police officers and have protected their levels of frontline staff. Indeed, the work they are doing on updating their back office and recording systems means that there is more time and resources available for frontline activities.

Of course, it is inevitable that areas of low density population will be difficult and expensive to police. In terms of covering square miles, it will always be the case that highly populated areas will need more police. That is why we all have a responsibility to help. So, if you see some cretin dumping waste in a farm gate, report it. It is with everyone’s help that we can bring these monsters who pointlessly slaughtered 15 deer to account.