A year since being instated the Dorset Police rural crime team is making "great strides" in tackling offences in the county’s more remote locations.

This week marks the one-year anniversary since the team began to work to tackle criminality in the countryside through a more strategic and coordinated way than ever before in Dorset.

Under the leadership of co-ordinator PC Clair Dinsdale and rural engagement officer PCSO Tom Balchin, the team have taken a bespoke approach to crime fighting from the popular force tractor Robo-Crop, to filming with Countryfile following the thefts of rare bird eggs in Poole Harbour.

PC Dinsdale said: “We’ve had a busy first 12 months including the first restraining order in Dorset for poaching and several people being dealt with for theft and livestock worrying.

“We’ve been actively encouraging members of the community to report crime and suspicious incidents which has given us a broad intelligence picture, enabling us to actively target those criminals causing the most harm.”

Already in 2017, without a full year of data, Dorset Police has seen reports of individuals loitering in rural areas increase by more than 46 per cent compared with 2016, while reports of suspicious vehicles nearby farms has increased by 65 per cent.

Officers have also had more poaching incidents reported so far this year than for the full year of 2016, underlining the communities heightened cooperation with the force.

The rural crime team was created last August as part of Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner Martyn Underhill’s re-election pledge.

The commissioner said: “Working with our communities is a core pillar of the new police and crime plan for Dorset. As PCC, it’s important that the views of all communities are taken into account and resources allocated accordingly.

"Many rural residents and business owners I met with in my first term of office told me of the severe impact rural crime has on livelihoods and that more could be done to demonstrate commitment to policing their rural communities.

“One year on, I would like to thank the rural crime team for the great strides they have made in proactively engaging with our rural communities, disrupting criminals in their tracks and increasing confidence in reporting rural crime. The team has injected energy into the policing of our countryside locally.”

For bespoke crime prevention advice contact the rural crime team by visiting www.dorset.police.uk/RuralCrime.