Wiltshire's first ever Rural Crime Forum took place in Tidworth.

It aimed to address rural crime's links to organised crime groups (OCGs), security within agricultural settings, and the concerns of the county's rural communities.

The forum was created by Wiltshire Police and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Wiltshire and Swindon.

At the event on June 7, police and crime commissioner, Philip Wilkinson, led a discussion around the fears locals had about rural crime.

Meanwhile, Dr Kate Tudor, a senior criminologist at Durham University, presented to over 100 delegates about the connection between rural crime and OCGs.

Mr Wilkinson said: "I have spent today listening and talking to farmers, residents and a number of groups based in our rural communities as they’ve told me their concerns about crime.

"Events like this, give us the opportunity to show the steps which are being taken to tackle rural crime and to combat the organised crime groups which, as we heard from Dr Kate Tudor, have a severe impact on our farms and our environment.

"Through working collaboratively across the south-west through Operation Ragwort, I want our rural communities to know that our approach is intelligence led and they can be confident that their concerns are being dealt with robustly.

"I want them to feel confident in the response from Wiltshire Police, and I hope that their increased engagement will lead to an increase in reporting and more successful outcomes."

(Image: Wiltshire and Swindon PCC)

Senior officers from Wiltshire Police and the National Rural Crime Unit discussed their strategies and tactics being implemented to apprehend those responsible for the most serious and prolific rural crime offences.

This included a focus on Operation Ragwort, a regional initiative dedicated to tackling rural crime.

Superintendent Doug Downing from Wiltshire Police said: "Through Operation Ragwort, we will create a richer intelligence picture across the South West, including our neighbouring forces in Hampshire and at Thames Valley, so we know where these criminals are operating, where we can stop them and how we can disrupt their operations.

"With the help of our Rural Crime Partnership and through the work we do with our rural businesses and residents, we want to make the public aware of the steps they can take to prevent crime from happening on their properties and how they can contact us with any intelligence they may have".

Organisations present at the forum included Heritage England, the Canal & River Trust and the British Horse Society.