Appeal for rural premises to be on their guard following burglary at farm premises in Hook

Do you have sheds, barns, garages or outbuildings containing valuable equipment such as power tools, gardening equipment or quad bikes?

Please be on your guard after a burglary at a farm premises in Hook. This is believed to be part of a series of similar incidents across rural areas in Hart district and beyond.

This burglary occurred between 10pm and 10.20pm on January 2 at a farm premises in Well, Hook. The owner was alerted by an alarm going off on an outbuilding. He went to investigate and saw three suspects, who initially ran off.

However, they returned carrying crow bars and started to behave in an aggressive manner towards the victim. He retreated to his house where his wife was also present. Two of the suspects remained outside the house but smashed the front door window, causing a cut to the woman's eye.

The other suspect broke into the outbuilding and stole a red Honda TRX500 quad bike. All three then made off down a footpath, possibly to a waiting vehicle.  We are appealing to anyone who may have seen people acting suspiciously in the area on that night or if they saw a four by four, possibly a Navarro style vehicle) that night. It may have had the quad bike in tow. If you have any dash cam footage, please review it and get in touch.

It's also possible the suspects may have been at the location a couple of days before.

If you have any information about this crime, please get in touch by calling 101 and quoting reference 44210001936.

We are also warning people not to confront suspects. Call the police on 999 immediately if a crime is in progress.

If you see a suspicious person or vehicle, call it in on 101 – the police non-emergency number.

Neighbourhood Inspector Jen Lovegrove said: “We have seen a series of burglaries of outbuildings that are occurring overnight and in the early hours of the morning in rural districts across Hart.

“The suspects appear to be targeting farm machinery, quad bikes and All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) and anything of value such as power tools.

“This is not something that is unique to Hart District, it is also happening across county borders and across the UK.

“I would like to assure residents and landowners that we take this type of crime extremely seriously. We are conducting patrols in rural areas but we would urge anyone to ensure as far as possible to secure and alarm their buildings and property mark their equipment.

“You can do this for free

“As a bare minimum, all farmers should ensure that the keys are removed and overnight your quad bike is in a locked shed. Where possible all the available options should be explored around marking and our PCSOs are trained to provide you with the information about the available marking schemes.

“Where trackers are fitted it is a significant help to the police investigation. Recently, where a tracker has been fitted it has resulted in two arrests.

“We also need the rural community to be our eyes and ears. If you see anything suspicious please report it via 101 or 101 emails. A specialist rural crime reporting line is also available to those who want to report suspicious activity anonymously by calling 0800 783 0137.”