RISING crime in the countryside around Darlington has prompted farmers to install sophisticated new security systems.

Infra-red detectors, ultrasonic beams, updated alarm systems and closed circuit cameras are being introduced in response to the recent rise in thefts, trespassing and poaching by men with guns and dogs.

The programme is co-ordinated by crime prevention group Darlington Rural Watch (DRW).

The group brings together the police, the Youth Offending and Community Safety Service, farmers and other people living in the rural area in a joint response to crime.

Security company ADT is already working on a number of farms as part of an initiative agreed at a recent DRW meeting.

DRW co-ordinator Brian Pavey, a gamekeeper from Darlington, said: "Criminals, some of them trying to make money to fund their drug abuse, have been moving into the countryside, particularly as the dark evenings arrive.

"We have had recent incidents of farm machinery being stolen and an increase in poaching because with the crops gathered, the fields are more accessible to poachers and their dogs. A number of the poachers are armed.

"We have also had incidents of Range Rovers and 4x4 vehicles coming on to farmland and hare coursing has taken place."

Mr Pavey said DRW members were increasingly exchanging information on suspicious incidents with police, whose tactical wings, including the dog section, regularly use the borough's farmland for training.

He said: "The mood of the farmers is that they have banded together as a unit. The police reaction has increased one hundred per cent, and farmers have agreed to prosecute over incidents on their land.

"Previously, they were reluctant to press charges because they felt isolated and intimidated, but now they are working well as a team.

"Although we have had a recent increase in incidents, we do feel that DRW is making an impact.

"We are recruiting new members all the time and the message to the criminals is 'you are being watched'."

If you would like to join DRW, contact Darlington police on 467681 or Jane Wood, Neighbourhood Watch liaison officer, on 346832, and ask to be put in contact with Mr Pavey.