NFU mutual reports leap in crime as heating oil tanks raided
NFU Mutual's claims figures have revealed a 14.7% increase in thefts from homes in the UK countryside in 2008 with a nationwide epidemic of thefts from domestic central heating oil tanks as price rises made oil a valuable commodity.
"There is widespread concern in the countryside that the recession will lead to a crime wave," said NFU Spokesman Tim Price.
"We have seen sharp increases in rural crime in previous economic downturns - and are concerned that these worrying figures could mark the first evidence of a new rural crime wave."
NFU Mutual's concerns are shared by rural police forces. Figures recently gathered under the Freedom of Information Act showed almost two-thirds of the police forces surveyed in England and Wales showed a rise in robberies in the past three months, compared to the same period in the previous year.
The impact has been most acute in rural areas, where there has been a 17.5% rise in violent thefts.
All 43 police forces in England and Wales were asked to provide figures for robbery. Of the 32 that replied, 19 forces saw a rise. Cumbria, Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire, Cambridgeshire, Durham, Dyfed Powys, North Wales, and West Mercia all showed significant increases.
They are among the 13 forces categorised as "rural" by the Home Office, in which there was a rise in robbery offences from 1064 to 1250 over the three-month Christmas period, compared year-on-year.
Among otherwise standard home-owner’ security advice, NFU Muutal urged rural dwellers to consider re-siting easily accessible oil tanks to an area or building where they are better protected
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