Quad bike thieves in £33,000 spree (From Gazette & Herald)

Quad bike thieves in £33,000 spree

OPPORTUNIST thieves have targeted isolated North Yorkshire farms and stolen quad bikes worth tens of thousands of pounds because they see them as "easy pickings", police have warned.

Since November a total of 13 quad bikes with a total value of more than £33,500 have been pinched from farm outbuildings, garages and sheds in rural Ryedale.

On April 26 thieves made off with a Polaris 500 worth £5,000 from a farm in Scrayingham, and on April 20, in one haul from a property in Snainton, crooks bagged a child's Suzuki LTAT worth £1,300 and a Suzuki LTX400 worth £5,000.

"We're trying to get the message out to everyone that keeping these vehicles in a locked garage is no longer enough to prevent them being taken," said community safety officer PC Terry Triffitt.

Businessman Richard Wylie, who sells quad bikes at DH Wadsworth & Sons in Norton, said: "If people are spending between £3,000 and £6,000 on one of these vehicles they have to be prepared to spend a bit more protecting them.

"Some of my customers have had three or four quads stolen and one customer is on his sixth. People must take this threat seriously."

Mr Wylie recommended tough anti-theft measures, including expensive wheel locks and chains.

PC Triffitt said quad bikes were becoming increasingly popular with farmers to use on their land because they are such versatile vehicles, but the expensive vehicles were being targeted by opportunist thieves.

Safer Ryedale, the community safety partnership, has produced a free video called Easy Pickings, to educate quad bike owners about the newest and best ways to protect their property.

"Doing nothing about securing these valuable items is not an option," said PC Triffitt.

According to the police one unnamed Ryedale farmer said in a statement: "We parked up the quad in an outbuilding while we went into the farmhouse for lunch. Twenty minutes later we came out to see a van driving away from the property and it turned out the quad was inside it."

PC Triffitt said the machine had not been insured and the farmer feared another theft, so had decided not to replace it, even though it made a big difference to the way he worked on the farm.

For a copy of the video phone Safer Ryedale on 01653 600666, or log on to www.ryesafe.co.uk

Updated: 12:16 Wednesday, May 12, 2004