BBC Countryfile - Rural crime on the rise

BBC Countryfile aired the last of two special episodes about Harvest on Sunday 1st October, where they highlighted the problem of rural crime and its impact on the farming community.

Charlotte Smith interviewed Hannah Binns, the Rural Affairs Specialist for the NFU Mutual, about the rise in GPS theft and Dr Kate Tudor, a criminologist from Durham University who has been researching whether manufacturers could do more to reduce agricultural theft.  This is an area that the VIN CHIP team are convinced will make a fundamental difference when it comes to addressing the continuing increase in rural crime in the UK.   

The leisure vehicle industry experienced a similar problem back in the 1990s when caravan theft reached an all time high, with insurance premiums increasing and consumer confidence decreasing.  The National Caravan Council (the trade body for the leisure vehicle industry) following advice from the Metropolitan Police, introduced the Anti-Theft Prevention System which is now branded as VIN CHIP.    Since the industry implemented the system as standard, theft of caravans and motorhomes has significantly fallen and continues to remain low.   

Kelly Surtees, Commercial & Operations Director of VIN CHIP, said “Caravan manufacturers installing the VIN CHIP system as standard was a key development in our fight against crime and I believe, this could be the turning point for the problems faced in the agricultural sector.”   VIN CHIP is now expanding into new sectors including Agricultural, ATVs and UTVs and Construction Plant to provide security and protection where it is most needed.  Kelly continued “We are keen to share the benefits of our system with these new markets as we are passionate about reducing theft across the UK, wherever that may be needed.  We have the leading machinery and plant identification experts on board and our market leading technology is adaptable which means that it can have the same impact and success in these new sectors as that experienced in the leisure industry.”

VIN CHIP security experts run regular IMI Accredited police training programmes in specialist identification of vehicles, plant and machinery and work closely with the police to detect and recover stolen assets.  Gathering evidence for potential prosecutions is all part of that process.

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