Extra officers have been drafted in to help tackle rural issues in South Lancashire.
The South Rural Task Force, which covers the rural areas of Preston, Chorley, South Ribble and West Lancashire and will be boosted from four specialist officers to seven to combat things like machinery theft, rural, wildlife and heritage crime.
Since being established in 2021, the team has made 57 arrests, seized 194 stolen vehicles or plant machinery, conducted 227 stop searches, issued 64 traffic offence reports and three criminal behaviour orders and much more.
Hare coursing in West Lancashire has also been reduced by more than 60% and recognised by The Poaching and Hare Coursing Priority Delivery Group.
The team also won the first eve Rob Oliver award which is issued by industry for excellent in the fight against construction, plant and agricultural machinery theft.
Sergeant Darren Carr said: “I am incredibly proud of the achievement of the South Rural Task Force since the team was established in 2021.
“Despite being a small team, their dedication and passion for protecting our rural communities has produced some great results so far.
“We will continue to develop close working relationships with partner agencies and neighbouring forces to target offenders who travel between counties to commit crime and deal with the wide variety of reports that we receive.
“Through our work with the RSPCA, we have helped to recover and safeguard hundreds of animals which had been neglected or mistreated and assisted in prosecuting offenders.
“I am excited to see what more we can achieve in the future with the addition of more officers to our already strong team.”
Clive Grunshaw, Lancashire’s police and crime commissioner, said: “I funded the creation of our rural taskforces in my previous term as Commissioner, and I’m really pleased to see this expansion of the team in south division, with even more officers now out in the rural communities they serve.
“These teams understand the unique needs of policing our rural areas and the challenges that this brings, with the results speaking for themselves.
“As commissioner I will continue to provide strong leadership and scrutiny to ensure officers are delivering what the public want, picking up local intelligence to fight crime and keep people safe.”
