Plant machinery continues to be an attractive target for thieves and organised crime groups, leading to significant financial losses for farmers and landowners. As the autumn season approaches, it is crucial to take proactive steps to protect your property and equipment.

How to Keep Burglars Off Your Land This Autumn

• Reinforce your boundaries: Replace old gates, repair fences, and strengthen walls to make unauthorized access more difficult.
• Block entrances: Use large, immovable objects such as old machinery to block access points to your land.
• Secure popular equipment: Quad bikes, ride-on lawnmowers, and rotavators are especially targeted by thieves. Make them difficult to remove by shackling them together or chaining them to a hitch secured to the ground or a building.
• Manage keys carefully: Always take keys out of vehicles when not in use and store them securely inside a building where they cannot be easily accessed.
• Install CCTV cameras: Position cameras around your property, especially overlooking areas where plant machinery is parked, to capture any unwelcome visitors on camera.
• Use motion sensor lighting: Install lighting around your property to spotlight potential intruders and deter theft.
• Mark your property: Use a unique reference number to mark machinery and property so it can be traced and identified if stolen. Registering your property on Immobilise is free and recommended.
• Consider trackers and immobilisers: Installing these devices can help recover stolen vehicles and prevent their use.

Don’t let burglars take root on your land. Lock them out and report any suspicious activity using the online reporting tool provided by local authorities.

For more rural crime prevention tips, visit the dedicated webpage.

Source: In The Know — Surrey Latest Alerts