POLICE have issued a plea to farmers to contact them whenever there is an instance of rural crime - no matter how small.

They say that as a large rural force, it is essential to map areas of concern and emphasise the importance of reporting even small pieces of information, even such as someone driving into a field.

The rural affairs policing team state that by this example they can analyse patterns in the reported crimes in the area, in case its potential poachers or thieves scouting the area and by reporting it they can let the rural community know while assisting them with their investigations where necessary.

A spokesperson for Devon and Cornwall Police said: “This means that the community is more alert to what is going on, as well as people talking to their friends and spreading the word- this then gives us lots of eyes out in our rural communities.

“Please do report all incidents no matter how small. Non-emergency incidents are things that have already happened such as you finding damage the next morning, these can be reported to 101 on the phone or via the Devon and Cornwall Police website and normally takes less than 5 minutes to complete on the website.

“If you prefer the phone, we now have a new call-back system on 101, which will save your place in the queue, and when you are at the front of the queue we will call you back, meaning you can continue farming instead of waiting for your call to be answered. It's really good and will save you time on waiting, whilst ensuring we still get the vital information and reports from our rural communities.

“Any incident which is ongoing or has risk of harm should be called into police on 999.”