Gangs target farms amid rise in rural crime across Cheshire

GANGS are using silent electric scooters to steal expensive farming equipment amid a rise in rural crime across Cheshire.

Dubbed ‘Rural Wraiths’, the gangs use the scooters to make off along country lanes at high speed.

Some of the equipment targeted includes GPS which typical costs around £10,000.

Without GPS – an essential part of modern farming – harvests can be delayed, and some farmers left unable to work.

This has contributed to a huge 27 per cent rise – to an estimated £855,000 – in the cost of rural thefts in 2020, according to figures released by NFU Mutual.