PCC teams up with NFU and private enforcers in fly-grazing crackdown

A crackdown is underway to tackle fly grazing in Harborough following reports of criminal damage and threats against landowners.

Police and Crime Commissioner Rupert Matthews provided funding to the National Farmers’ Union to support its Stop the Fly Grazers operation and is working collaboratively with the organisation to increase protection for local landowners in the Harborough district.

Fly grazing is the illegal practice of placing or leaving grazing animals, often horses, on private or public land without the landowner’s permission.

The issue creates significant problems for landowners as grazing animals can quickly degrade land and cause damage to fencing.

It also has a detrimental impact on the welfare of the animals, which are often left with little or inadequate food, water or shelter, and have to fend for themselves.

Locally in Harborough, landowners have also reported receiving threats of violence, intimidation, harassment and threats to property by those responsible for the animals.

The NFU and PCC is working with a nationally recognised bailiff company well-known to offenders to send a clear message that illegal grazing animals will be removed.

Through his Community Action Fund, the Commissioner has funded 300 professional signs set to be deployed across vulnerable locations within the Harborough district.

The signs warn offenders that specialist bailiffs will be used to remove any illegally grazed animals from the land, providing an alternative to individual enforcement action that can cost landowners up to £2k per horse to remove.

Rural Crime is one of six key priorities in the PCC’s Police and Crime Plan, which champions a ‘prevention over cure’ approach to criminality.

The PCC has vowed to deliver initiatives that concentrate on crime prevention and support rural communities to implement schemes that will work in their local areas while also funding activity designed to reduce rural crime and its impact on livelihoods and communities.

Police and Crime Commissioner Rupert Matthews said: “Rural crime has a serious detrimental impact on mental health and can run people out of business. Fly gazing not only hits landowners in the pocket it also heightens fear and puts their safety at risk with many local landowners reporting threats of violence and intimidation.

“Evidence from other areas suggests that that the presence of specialist bailiff signage alone can be enough to prevent animals from being dumped in the first place, which reduces victims and harm. If we can reduce the frequency of fly grazing incidents in this area, we obviously minimise the associated costs of repairing criminal damage and prevent people from being exposed to violence or intimidation.

“The initiative is a shining example of collaborative working to tackle rural crime, and I am grateful to the NFU, our specialist enforcement partners and our rural communities themselves for their efforts in designing this meaningful solution and reducing future vulnerability.”

The Community Action Fund (CAF) marks a departure from traditional community funding streams with the Commissioner keen to channel resources directly into the hands of those who know their communities best to strike at the roots of criminality and anti-social behaviour.

Replacing the Commissioner’s Safety Fund, the new scheme distributes funding across several rounds throughout the year, focusing on the core priorities of the Commissioner’s new Police and Crime Plan.

The fund aims to stop problems before they start by enlisting the support of grassroots organisations in efforts to reduce crime, ease pressure on the emergency services and build safer, more connected communities.

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