SYMCA HELP IN FIGHT AGAINST RURAL CRIME

Published 11 September 2026 at 10:28am

South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) has backed countryside communities in the county in their fightback against rural crime by providing a funding pot to help rural communities guard against crime.

The South Yorkshire Rural Crime Initiative was launched earlier this year in response to the crimes and issues that blight rural communities, such as anti-social behaviour, theft, vandalism and fly-tipping.

Backed with funding to the tune of £443,000 from SYMCA the initiative aims to protect rural communities and businesses, including farmers, from criminal behaviour. Among the initiatives funded was £20,000 for a mobile unit that South Yorkshire Police can deploy to support rural communities, alongside around £360,000 for Rural Crime Initiative grants.

So far 115 grants have been awarded to rural residents and businesses across South Yorkshire to help them to equip their land and properties to better guard against crime.

Funding has supported the purchase of equipment such as CCTV, wildlife cameras, drones, lighting, intruder alarms, trackers and property-marking kits, as well as physical security measures including gates, fencing and anti-poaching barriers.The applications have been supported with advice and guidance from South Yorkshire Police officers.

Kilvinder Vigurs, Deputy Mayor for Policing for South Yorkshire, said: “I have been raising the profile of rural crime in order to bring it to the attention of the wider public.  Our county is blessed with some beautiful rural landscapes, but this can often hide social problems that might be more visible in our urban spaces. 

I am pleased that the rural crime initiative launched earlier in the year has been able to help some of our rural communities. It was designed to help guard against criminal behaviour and support farmers, businesses and rural residents secure their homes, premises and livelihoods against crime and anti-social behaviour. 

“The is an important step in helping people financially through practical measures such as CCTV, security lighting and other crime‑prevention technologies. By investing in these communities and working closely with South Yorkshire Police, we are taking a proactive and targeted approach to preventing and tackling rural crime and reducing the fear of crime.  We are also showing we are here for all out communities in South Yorkshire”

Farmer Joe Seele is one of those who has benefitted from the Rural Crime Initiative scheme. He said people routinely dump rubbish in the lanes around his land.

He said: “It gets to the point where I can’t even see it anymore. I should be appalled to see it but there is so much of it that it just becomes normality.

“The cattle can end up eating it. People have also been setting fire to the flytipping. It creates such risk to the countryside, the fields, and even to the houses.”

The theft of machinery, fuel and crops plus the damage caused by off road bikes and quads directly delays harvesting and reduces yields. And that means less money to already hard-pressed farming communities. Damage to infrastructure can also affect food safety and availability.  In all, the costs from the effects of rural crime in South Yorkshire runs into hundreds of thousands of pounds every year, and that doesn’t take into account the emotional cost to the victims.

SYMCA, together with South Yorkshire Police, has made the financial support available to buy and install crime prevention products and materials with the aim of reducing rural crime and fear of crime, bringing offenders to justice and keeping communities safe.

Police have also stepped-up engagement and enforcement across the county to tackle rural crime, and linking in with local councils to tackle issues such as fly tipping and vandalism.

The scourge of rural crime is often underappreciated in the wider community. Given the fact that properties affected are often isolated and remote the effects of rural crime are much less visible to the public. But its effects can reverberate beyond those immediately affected, through increased costs for security and insurance, as well as reduced investment in local economies and depopulation.

It also undermines the sense of safety and trust that holds rural communities together.

Rural Crime Action Week (6-11 September) aims to highlight these challenges and to promote the ways in which communities can protect themselves and how to report incidents when they do occur.

The more incidents that are reported the more that police can build up a picture of rural and wildlife crimeand put in place measures to combat it.

To find out more about the Rural Crime Initiative and how to apply visit the South Yorkshire Police website.

If you want to pass on information about rural crime or suspicious activity in your area, we want to know about it.  You can report rural and wildlife crimes online here or call 101. If a crime is in action, always call 999. 

If you don’t feel comfortable sharing information directly with us, you can also report information or crimes completely anonymously to the charity Crimestoppers on their website by calling 0800 555 111.