HORSE owners are being invited to a new series of events to help protect property from criminals targeting rural stables and outbuildings.

As part of North Yorkshire Police's Horsewatch scheme, in the coming months officers will be at venues near Harrogate, Richmond and York offering free tack marking sessions.

PC Hannah McPeake, of the force's Rural Taskforce, said: "North Yorkshire continues to be a very safe place, and thankfully levels of equestrian crime are low.

"Unfortunately over the last few weeks a number of stables and tack rooms have been targeted, and so it’s more important than ever to be vigilant and take steps to protect your high-value tack.

"Marking items of property is one of the most effective ways of deterring criminals. Our property marking service is fast and free, so please make a note of the date of your nearest event and come along on the day."

The closest tack-marking drop-in session to Ryedale will take place on Sunday December 4, from noon to 3pm, at RideAway, Stillington Road, Sutton-on-the-Forest.

Using property marking technology, leather items of tack are marked with a unique number – deterring would-be thieves and making it easier to reunite stolen property and secure convictions.

Bring along any leather items of tack, and they will be marked with a unique number using a dot peen property marking machine. Synthetic tack or padded bridles cannot be marked in this way.