MEMBERS of the National Farmers Union of Wales (NFU Cymru) have met with North Wales Police to discuss the issue of rural crimes.

Wrexham-based staff members from NFU Cymru and NFU Mutual met with officers from the North Wales Police Rural Crime team to discuss problems such as cattle thefts.

For the meeting, the NFU Group Secretaries Mark Roberts and Aled Jones were joined by PC Dave Allen and PCSO Simon Griffith, as well as two local farmers.

The group used the meeting as an opportunity to raise awareness about how these crimes are facilitated, how to apprehend perpetrators, and how to prevent further cases from happening.

Speaking after the meeting, NFU’s Mark Roberts said: “I’d like to thank PC Allen and PCSO Griffiths for taking the time to meet with myself, Aled and our members to discuss this on-going issue.

“The police were keen to learn more from the farmer’s point of view about rural thefts, and to gain an insight of how cattle could be stolen, transported and hidden.

“It was a very useful meeting with expertise shared on both sides, and possible tactics discussed going forward, including the use of camouflaged wildlife cameras on gateways.

“PCSO Griffith also highlighted the importance of promoting the dedicated Rural Crimestoppers line to report any activity or information with complete anonymity.

“I would urge everyone to take note of any suspicious activity and to report anything, no matter how insignificant you think it may be, that is out of the ordinary. We need to work together to stamp out rural crime.”

If you wish to contact the Rural Crimestoppers team anonymously to report a crime or any helpful information, you can contact them on 0800 783 0137.