Rural Watch

Covering Arbury, Ermine, Weston & Sandon Wards.

No dwelling Burglaries have taken place in our area this month. Also very little farming type offences this month also.

The word ‘TOXIK’ an letters ‘AM’ have been appearing in Ashwell, extensive enquiries are being handled in a bid to catch the offenders, for those of you that live in the Ashwell area please keep a watch and report any information to me.

Cars are still being stolen in other areas. In Royston we have had a house entered by forcing the front door during the hours of darkness. The offender made a search of the downstairs and found a set keys to a new car that was parked on the driveway to the house and then stole the car!

At Berkeley Road, Bedford on Tuesday 8th February, 10:30 am  A man called on an elderly couple claiming to be a Powergen officer and stated that they owed him £86. The couple decided to call Powergen about the matter, at which point the impostor made off.

He is described as a white male, heavily built, aged 57 / 62 years. He was wearing a blue Mac, grey trousers, black shoes and had black rimmed glasses. He had a Powergen photo ID on a chain around his neck.

If you can identify the impostor, please call PC 918 Sarah Meehan on

01234 841212, or call Crimestoppers anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

Code CTS8/1

Burglars in Taxis

It seems some Burglars in other areas are using vehicles that appear to look like taxis in a bid to search for potential targets. Their thinking is that they draw far less attention to themselves than normal cars. So if you see an unexpected taxis pull up out-side you house please get the index and give us a call.

Scrap Metal

With the increase in the price of scrap metal we are finding that farms and factory yards are suffering with thefts of scrap metal. The offenders appear to be able to steal almost any weight and must have a crane to assist them.

Counterfeit Notes

Pub owners and retailers should be particularly careful at the moment, as a spate of fake bank notes has been reported in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. Several notes have so far been reported to the police, all of them counterfeit Scottish £20 or £50 notes. They have turned up mostly in pubs. One of the offenders passing the notes is described as a large built, dark-haired man, aged 30-40, with an Irish accent. He is variously accompanied by a large built Irish woman, in her early 20s, or another younger blond man. They are travelling in a dark coloured P registered Vauxhall Astra.

If you do take these in the course of your business (unfortunately) you will loose their value.

Stolen Dogs

We have had two dogs stolen from the Royston area, these were lurchers that had been used for hare coursing. The owner found the himself whilst walking in the countryside? This is an unusual crime in our area, but high value dogs have been stolen in other areas. Dogs can be ‘chipped’ and you can have an identification number tattooed in their ears.

Jeep Cherokee

If you own a Jeep Cherokee, please look after it. They appear to be prized by our local Ram Raiders. In fact any 4X4 can be used for this purpose. Some of the favourite places they find them, normally with the keys are in; - Farm Yards, Building sites and stable blocks, so if you like your vehicle and don’t want to see it being driven off by some horrible person DO NOT LEAVE THE KEYS IN IT.

Illegal Hare coursing Incidents 2003 - 2004

Illegal Hare coursing Incidents 2004 - 2005

We did get one incident reported in the east of our area but this appeared to be someone after a lost dog, at that time they had been given permission from a Neighbouring farmer.

Doorstep Workman

Don’t let any casual caller do work on your property, for example roofing, tarmacking driveways or gardening. Every year we receive complaints from out-of-pocket customers who say that workman have vanished leaving jobs half done or badly finished. In most of these instances large quantities of cash have been paid in advance of the work being started and the victim has no way of tracing the workmen or company. In most cases these door-knocking ‘workmen’ are not based locally and want to be paid in cash.

If someone calls at your door offering to do some work for you, make sure the person is who they say they are - take a contact telephone number and say you will call back later in the day to confirm if you want the work done. Don’t accept for the work to be done immediately. You can then speak with friends, family or the police about what the workman was offering.

Ask where they advertise or if they are listed in the phone book and contact details of previous customers - then check this is true.

Don’t pay up front - regardless of how demanding they are. Ask for a written quote on headed paper and always pay by cheque - genuine workmen will be happy to work this way

Not all crimes that have occurred appear on this newsletter as it is always up to the injured party if they wish them to be published.

My phone Number 01462425224 (mid to long term problems) 0845 33 00 222 (if you have suffered a crime or need Police within a couple of hours) 999 (for immediate response if you have just suffered a crime and for Coursing) PC 431 Paul Marina. North Herts Rural. paul.marina@herts.pnn.police.uk.
chris.brabrook@herts.pnn.police.uk

Please click on the link below it will take you to couple of pages that displays a few people that we would like to have a chat to!

http://www.herts.police.uk/CCTV/gallery.htm

http://www.bedfordhomewatch.co.uk

http://www.angliawestcrimestoppers.org.uk/

http://www.nfu.org.uk/

http://www.britishhorse.co.uk/

http://www.horsetackexchange.co.uk

http://trailerwatch.com/

http://www.stolenhorseregister.com/  

Not all crimes that have occurred appear on this newsletter as it is always up to the injured party if they wish them to be published.

My phone Number 01462425224 (mid to long term problems) 0845 33 00 222 (if you have suffered a crime or need Police within a couple of hours) 999 (for immediate response if you have just suffered a crime and for Coursing) PC 431 Paul Marina. North Herts Rural.

paul.marina@herts.pnn.police.uk.
 

chris.brabrook@herts.pnn.police.uk