WHEN it comes to rural crime, Brian Pavey has seen it all.

Sitting with him in the middle of nowhere, in a 4x4 at 10pm on a mild but windy autumn evening, he has plenty of time to tell us about his experience of lawlessness over the two decades since he set up Countryside Crime Watch in County Durham and North Yorkshire.

The 75-year-old has spoken to farmers who have been attacked by poachers, farmers whose livestock has been slaughtered by criminals and, on one occasion, a farmer whose property was repeatedly set alight after he confronted trespassers on his land.

While they are extreme examples, more commonly farmers find gates left open or see telltale lights on their land after midnight – signs that poachers and “lampers”

or rabbiters have been trespassing.

Equally frequent are vans visiting farms and asking for scrap metal – or simply going onto farms, uninvited, and looking for scrap or valuable machinery such as tractors, trailers and quad bikes to steal.

Mr Pavey said that from anecdotal evidence, rural crime was becoming more prevalent – something that is backed up by figures from the NFU Mutual’s Rural Crime Survey, which found that crime across farms in County Durham, Northumberland and North Yorkshire was up 12 per cent last year.

He is urging rural communities to fight back by becoming the police’s eyes and ears in the countryside.

He said: “My biggest worry is one of these young farmers will retaliate and be outnumbered, and we will end up with a fatality.

“That is why Countryside Crime Watch is so important. It is about teamwork, collaboration and working with the police.”

Accompanying us is another farmer, who has asked not to be named, and a special constable, but we are not alone. Across County Durham, there are six other teams of farmers and volunteer police officers doing the same thing.

Supporting the stationary teams are full-time police officers in vehicles, ready to respond to any suspicious activity.

We spot one group of suspicious-looking youths with a dog walking along a country lane.

The youths are quickly picked up, with police carrying out checks on dozens of suspicious vehicles.

Another call comes through to say three boys have been apprehended, with two dogs and a lamp, between Middleton St George and Sadberge, near Darlington.

The boys, who cannot be older than 18, look scared, but insist they were simply walking on a public path.

There is no evidence they have committed a crime, so the officers have a stern word with them before sending them on their way.

Chief Inspector Chris Reeves said: “Operations like this are not just about arresting people. It is about raising awareness and speaking to people.

“We are very serious about tackling rural crime, and reassuring communities we have a presence here. But we do need their help. Rural communities are our eyes and ears.”