Fivefold rise in sheep rustling

THE rising price of meat and the effects of the economic downturn have been blamed for a massive increase in sheep rustling in the UK.

The theft of sheep from farmers' fields has risen fivefold in the past 18 months compared with the last decade, the leading farmers' insurer said.

Thieves, who in recent years have reacted to global price rises for metal by stealing scrap and in oil by raiding farm tanks, have even been found to have butchered the meat in fields.

That led the insurer NFU Mutual, which covers two-thirds of British farms, to warn potential buyers of the health risk of picking up a bargain which had not been hygienically slaughtered.

Typically, farmers were reporting that a couple of sheep at a time were being stolen - probably bundled into the back of a van to be slaughtered and sold on to friends. But in some instances, gangs rounded up 100 animals and organised a lorry to whisk the sheep away to be sold on through illegitimate channels.

NFU Mutual spokesman Tim Price said: "In the last 18 months we have seen the number of rustling thefts from farms increase fivefold."