On Monday, May 20, a farmer returned back to his farm in Wincle, Chesire to discover two thieves taking off on his quad bike.
The theft of the red Honda four trax quad bike occurred at approximately 7:47p.m, reported the Chesire Police Rural Crime Team on its Facebook page.
The farmer stated that both thieves were dressed in black and had their hoods up, however the thief at the rear of the quad was a white male, in his late 20s/ early 30s, with a beard and dark hair.
As the thieves fled the scene, the man on the rear of the quad began to throw items at the farmer. The quad bike was last sighted being “driven dangerously” up Belle View Road in Leek Staffordshire at 8:26p.m.
The rural crime team have urged the public of Wincle to keep their eyes open for the quad bike, as it might be parked up somewhere.
The offenders are believed to have attempted to steal a tractor, so the rural crime team have advised farmers to keep their equipment secure.
Any information is to be reported to the Chesire Police via 101. The crime team added that it has a number of lines of enquiry that is being actively pursuing.
Machinery theft prevention
The Chesire Constabulary has advised how to prevent machinery theft, as it is “considerable problem” and what to do if your machinery has been stolen.
These thefts are often from farms, woodland and domestic rural locations as well as building sites, and range from sit-on mowers and quad bikes up to very large plant and construction machinery.
Machinery can be secured by using trackers, alarms, CCTV and an immobiliser. The crime team have urged machine owners to consider installing tracking devices to the machines.
Items such as quad bikes, sit-on lawn mowers and rotavators are “very desirable” to thieves. Consider making them difficult to remove by shackling them together or chaining them to a hitch.
It is advised to mark your property, preferably a post code as it can be easily identified to your property and returned.
If your property has been stolen, call the police on 999 as soon as possible, with as many details as you can.
