CONOR McGinn, Labour MP for St Helens North, has called on the government to get serious about tackling the rural crime blighting farming communities across St Helens and neighbouring regions.

The call follows a meeting held with local farmers and representatives from the North West Farmer’s Union (NFU) at Mossborough Hall in Rainford, where the work, priorities and challenges facing rural communities were discussed.

Tackling rural crime was a key focus of the meeting, as local farmers voiced concerns about the rise in criminality in machinery and livestock theft, and crucially, fly tipping.

Rural crime has increased in every region of the country, costing the UK £54.3m in 2019 – its highest total for eight years – according to NFU Mutual’s latest Rural Crime Report, released last year.

In the North West alone, the damage inflicted totalled £3.5 million in 2019 – up 3.5 per cent from the previous year.

The NFU’s Rural Crime Survey, published in April 2021, revealed fly-tipping to be the most common crime – with 48 per cent of surveyed farmers having being targeted throughout 2020.

The survey also revealed that 57 per cent of famers in the North West felt rural crime to have increased on their patch over the last year, which spurred Mr McGinn to call for decisive action to address local farmers’ concerns.

Speaking after his meeting with the NFU and local farmers, Mr McGinn said: “Rural crime is a blight on our farmers and rural communities, one that needs to be urgently addressed.

“It’s time that the Government finally got serious about the scale of this criminality, and fully committed to tackling it.

“Whether by campaigning to reduce rural crime or supporting quality produce, I’ll keep backing our farmers in Merseyside, Lancashire and across Britain.”

Similarly, NFU Lancashire County Adviser, Liz Berry, said: “Everyone hugely values the benefits the countryside brings, and none of us want it blighted by huge amounts of rubbish being strewn across fields and on the sides of rural roads.”

She added: “The NFU would like to see the Environment Agency, police, local authorities, and farmers working together to tackle the problems.

“More also needs to be done to educate householders on their legal obligations of disposing rubbish and how they can better reduce, re-use and recycle their waste. […] It’s important government and local authorities take the lead in making people aware of their responsibilities.

To try and get a hold of the increase in fly-tipping, Ms Berry said that “offenders caught dumping waste illegally must also see the fines as a proper punishment and these must act as a deterrent”.