Nine police forces in north of England team up to tackle cross-border poaching crimes

It is aimed at tackling poaching which has been blighting the region as criminals travel from one county to another to target vulnerable rural areas.

The poaching season kicked off from September and dark nights and wet weather are creating ideal conditions to run dogs and commit the crime throughout winter,

Significant work has already been undertaken, under the banner of Operation Hawkeye, to help protect rural communities and target transient criminals.

This work has now been boosted by the creation of a region-wide Community Protection Notice (CPN) which will see all nine police forces involved – Northumbria Police, Cleveland Police, Durham Constabulary, Cumbria Constabulary, Humberside Police, North Yorkshire Police, South Yorkshire Police, West Yorkshire Police and Lancashire Police – work as one to prosecute poachers and rural offenders.

The move will hand police and the courts significantly greater powers to combat and prosecute serial cross-border criminals who breach their CPN conditions by repeatedly targeting rural victims.

Northumbria Police’s Deputy Chief Constable Debbie Ford, who is also the national policing lead for Rural and Wildlife Crime, said: “This is a significant and innovative move that will help us combat rural crime not only in Northumbria but across the North of England.

“It is one of the biggest collective crackdowns of its kind in the UK and should send a clear message to those who target our most remote communities - rural crime will not be tolerated.

“Tackling and preventing rural crime is a priority for the Force and this latest initiative builds on the extensive work already underway with our partners.

“The initiative will see a collaboration between Forces to share intelligence and jointly prosecute poachers and offenders who travel across borders to attempt to disguise their criminality.

“By working together, we can continue to protect our communities and bring effective justice against perpetrators.”

The new scheme, supported by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), means offenders who commit offences across multiple counties can be prosecuted jointly by the respective Forces.

Before this, if someone committed an offence in one Force area and then travelled to a different county to carry out a second offence, both cases would have been heard in isolation.

A recent survey by the National Farmers’ Union for North Riding and Durham revealed that 51 per cent of respondents said they were subjected to regular farm invasions by poachers and chairman William Maughan said: “For years, criminals have taken advantage of cross-border differences between police forces, so having consistent measures in place across nine force areas is a huge step forward.

“Hopefully the farming community and the region’s much-loved wildlife will reap the rewards of this hard-fought drive to clamp down on rural crime.”

The scheme has also been welcomed by the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC), the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) and the National Gamekeepers' Organisation