Cross-border operation tackles quad bike and farm machinery thefts in Whitby and Ryedale areas

Suspected criminals from over the Cleveland Police border have targeted dozens of farms in North Yorkshire in recent months.

As well as working closely with Cleveland Police, specialist resources are being deployed to the area in the effort to detect and deter the travelling offenders.

This includes officers from the Rural Task Force, Roads Policing Groups, Operational Support Unit, Firearms Support Unit, the Dog Unit and the National Police Air Service.

They are working with local Neighbourhood Policing Teams to help reassure worried members of the farming community, providing crime prevention support, and advice on how best to report such incidents to the police.

Detective Inspector Ryan Chapman, from the Scarborough Investigation Hub, said: “Cross-border criminals are still targeting quadbikes and machinery from farms in the Whitby and Ryedale areas.

“Together with our colleagues at Cleveland Police, we are continuing to place specialist resources in and around the border to deter and disrupt criminal activity, as well as catching suspects in the act.

“There will be no let-up in our approach and suspects can expect to be arrested by North Yorkshire Police, or by Cleveland Police when they are pursued back over the border.”

The proactive operation led to the arrest of two suspects from the Cleveland Police area on suspicion of burglary at a farm in Farndale.

Power tools and scrap metal were taken in the in the incident.

One of the suspects, a 25-year-old man from Eston, has been charged with burglary and he is appearing at York Magistrates’ Court today (July 14).

The other man who was arrested, a 19-year-old from Stokesley, has been released on conditional bailed while enquiries are ongoing.

Another recent incident involved the arrests of two men aged 59 and 25 and a 23-year-old woman from East Cleveland.

This was in connection with the theft of a quadbike from a farm on the outskirts of Whitby just after 1am on Wednesday June 28.

They were caught after their vehicle was ‘stung’ by the police near Scaling Dam.

They have been released on conditional bail.