Farmers are being encouraged to sign up to a scheme dedicated to helping to cut rural crime and protecting Derbyshire’s farming communities.

Officers will be heading out on the road for a day long Farm Watch event in a bid to raise awareness of the scheme and encouraging farmers to increase their security to protect themselves from crime.

The event will run from 9am at the Agricultural Centre, Bakewell on Monday, March 10.

Farm Watch is a free service which is led by police and partners including Derbyshire Dales and High Peak local authorities, Derbyshire County Council and the NFU.

The pioneering project allows messages to be spread quickly around crime prevention advice, witness appeals and information to anyone signed up to it.

The messages are sent by text, email and voice messages and can be sent to hundreds of people at a time, pinpointed to a specific area.

Farmers who are not already in the scheme will be able to sign up and will receive a free Farm Watch pack.

During the event, Safer Neighbourhood officers will be on hand to offer crime prevention advice around boosting home and farm security and will be offering discounted security products to help prevent rural crime.

Horse owners will also be able to sign up to the dedicated Horse Watch scheme and will receive a free membership pack containing advice and guidance to help prevent and detect equine crime.

Representatives from Smartwater, Datatag, NFU and Autoglass will also be available for advice about their products.

Crime should not be reported via Farm Watch but instead by calling 101 or 999 in an emergency. You can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

For more information about the event, call Bakewell Safer Neighbourhood team on 101.