Man due in court following cross-border clampdown on rural crime

A livestock trailer - stolen in Scotland and worth £6000 - has been recovered by police in Northumberland as part of a cross-border crackdown on rural crime.

Shortly before 1am on Thursday, officers from the Motor Patrols Department spotted a Land Rover Freelander that was towing a trailer on the A69 near Corbridge.

After the occupant roused suspicion, police tracked and stopped the vehicle – with the driver admitting to being disqualified and having no documents.

Further enquiries led officers to suspect the Ifor Williams trailer had been stolen from Scotland, with it being registered to another vehicle across the border.

It was subsequently seized and a 28-year-old man was arrested and brought into custody.

Superintendent Andy Huddleston, rural crime lead for Northumbria Police, said: “This was an excellent piece of work by the PCs who saw something was not quite right and acted decisively.

“It transpired that the driver was disqualified and had no right to be driving that vehicle – and his account of where the livestock trailer came from and where he was heading also roused suspicion.