A new leaflet has been published to help locals better protect themselves against rural crime.

The Dorset Partnership Against Rural Crime (DPARC), chaired by Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner, has launched an information leaflet, offering hints and tips on crime prevention, especially for those living in rural areas.

It will include proactive advice on how to help keep farms, land and machinery safe, with key police-approved information and advice on how to prevent residents becoming a victim of crime.

Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner, David Sidwick, said: “Dorset is a proudly rural county, and from the outset all the members of DPARC wanted to do something to help agricultural and other isolated rural communities feel safer and help prevent crime.  

“As a partnership, we want to help build community resilience in rural areas. All the partners involved in DPARC are very much aware of the devastating impact crime can have not only on farmers and their livelihoods, but on rural communities too, and that is why we have put this leaflet together.”

The launch of the leaflet comes as an addition to the Country Watch website which was introduced by DPARC in September 2022. The Country Watch website is a ‘one-stop rural resource centre’ for all things related to rural crime in Dorset and was launched after the partnership received feedback from the rural community that they were spending a lot of time on different websites trying to find out information when it came to rural issues.

The leaflet is available to download from the Country Watch website by visiting https://www.countrywatchdorset.co.uk/.