Lincolnshire Police recovered £520,000 of stolen farm machinery last year

Lincolnshire Police’s Rural Crime Action Team said that a total of £520,000 of stolen farm vehicles, farm equipment and trailers were recovered between May 2024 and May 2025.

Members of South Kesteven District Council’s rural and communities overview and scrutiny committee heard that South Kesteven, Boston and South Holland are hotspots for this type of rural crime.

At a meeting on Wednesday, December 10, Inspector Chris Davis, from the force’s Special Operations Unit, which covers the Rural Crime Action Team, explained more.

He said: “Between May 2024 and May 2025, we have recovered around £300,000 of vehicles, £150,000 of plant (farm equipment), £70,000 worth of trailers and as you can see, lots of stuff that’s been recovered by the team from their own knowledge of the area that they work in.

“We know a lot of people steal items, lay them up and wait for any tracking devices and see if the police will come and recover them and where we can we’ll get in as soon as possible and get it back to the owner.”

Coun Robert Leadenham (Conservative – Belvoir ward), asked for more detail about the thefts.

He said: “Over your recovery of stolen equipment circa £150,000 worth of plants, does that include tractors and machinery?”

Insp Davis said: “What we’re seeing more of at the moment, especially over this side of the county, is we’re seeing more smaller items going so ride on lawn mowers, especially from cricket pavilions and golf courses.

“I think Sleaford lost a golf buggy recently. We’re pretty sure who’s done that but it’s already been moved on before we could get to it.

“So we’re seeing smaller stuff over this side of the county whereas over the east we’re seeing larger pieces of plant and machinery going like telehandlers (lifting machines) and road rollers.”

He added that Boston, South Holland, North Kesteven and South Kesteven are the areas where the force has “seen an increase” in thefts of farm machinery and people breaking into outbuildings on farmland.

Insp Davis concluded by explaining that hare coursing and the theft of plants and machinery were rural crimes that the force was currently dealing with the most.

He added: “Those two things are linked, which I’ll explain in a second. But as you can see, also theft of trailers and ATVs (all-terrain vehicles).

“So, they’re little four by four little types of vehicles, quite often used in farming and dealing with identified organised crime groups.”

Hare coursing is the pursuit of hares with dogs, which was made illegal in 2004.

Insp Davis added: “There’s gambling which goes on in relation to it (hare coursing) – exchanging large amounts of money and then they thrash fields.

“If you lay the crop in the field and then have numerous four by fours going across that field, it makes an absolute mess.

“Cambridgeshire earlier this year saw significant hare coursing events. It had been the four runs that had been in Lincolnshire but we managed to get I think five or six people arrested for that and get it dealt with.

“Unfortunately, they then decided to move into Cambridgeshire and they hit Cambridgeshire really hard last year, with I think it was about 30 to 40 four by fours going across fields, causing all sorts of disturbance, ramming people off the road, threatening people and making an absolute mess.”