The South West NFU is calling for police forces to devote more resources to combating rural crime, after a survey revealed almost 20% of members who responded had difficulty reporting a crime and that when they did, insufficient action was taken.

The crime survey was completed by 200 members and showed that fly-tipping, trespass, poaching and theft are the four commonest offences with which farmers deal.

It also revealed that the average cost to a farmer of each crime reported was nearly £3,000, with the total cost of the crimes covered by the survey coming to just under £247,000.

This included the costs of the time spent dealing with crime, replacing equipment and making good any damage.

Criminal damage, arson and burglary were also commonly reported, along with incidents of gates being left open, livestock worrying and fly-grazing.

In terms of the police response to crime 29% of farmers said officers had taken sufficient action, though 21% felt they had not with more than half the respondents saying they felt that insufficient resources were dedicated to fighting rural crime in their county.