Farmer 'sick and tired' of lack of police presence as farm targeted 6 times since Christmas

A “sick and tired” farmer has said farms have to be turned into ‘fortresses’ to keep criminals out as he slammed the lack of a police presence in rural areas. William Emmett of Hornbuckle Farm in Bray told Thames Valley Police at a Royal Borough rural forum that farmers deserve “better support,” after telling members his farm was targeted six times since Christmas.

He also said other crimes have happened at other farms, but a lot of people are not reporting these incidents because they are “sick and tired” of waiting a long time for the police to pick up their call. Mr Emmett said: “There are several people in this room who live in the south of Holyport and on Saturdays and Sundays it has become a fortress.

“I’ve spent a substantial amount of money on buying large poacher plants to try and protect my property.” He added: “We need visible support at night time.