Rural Crime Team's night of action across the force

The Sussex Rural Crime Team joined forces with the Hampshire Rural Crime Team and Kent Rural Taskforce for a night of action to deter rural criminality across the three force areas.

Officers on the teams spent Monday night (17 January) into the early hours of Tuesday stopping vehicles on the borders of East Sussex with Kent and West Sussex with Hampshire, gathering intelligence on rural criminals and providing a visible reassurance to those living and working in the rural communities on our force borders.

The operation was focussing on tackling rural burglary, theft of power tools and farm equipment.

Across Sussex, the team assisted by our Roads Policing Unit and Specialist Enforcement Unit stopped about 40 vehicles at static check points, as well as during patrols in the villages and routes used by criminals to access very rural areas.

A 32-year-old man from Kent was arrested after being stopped in Flimwell near Ticehurst on suspicion of drug-driving and being in possession of a number of offensive weapons, including a crossbow and an extendable baton. He was questioned and released under investigation.

Inspector Oli Fisher from the Sussex Police Rural Crime Team said: "We recognise that our rural communities expect and deserve to see a visible police presence, whether they are in the heart of the county or on its borders. This operation allowed officers from Kent and Hampshire to work shoulder to shoulder with Sussex officers, to not only provide a visible deterrent to criminals, but to improve intelligence sharing between our forces.

"We spoke to many drivers that night. I would like to thank them for their support. On top of the arrests we made, members of the public provided us with intelligence about local criminality. We will be running joint operations regularly to ensure our rural communities continue to be served effectively by the police."

If you see a crime in action, call 999.