Through no one’s fault, rural crime has fallen down the agenda, now seemingly an afterthought coming a distant second behind ‘serious’ crime in ‘urban’ areas. That needs to change, and it is changing.

The National Rural Crime Network (NRCN) is a positive step forward, highlighting the needs of rural communities and the exploring the toll of hidden crime.

Those of us involved in the NRCN, and anyone supporting our cause, will be writing blog posts to keep you up to date with developments.

With everyone’s help we can make sure rural crime is front and centre of the police’s mind.

To start us off on the right track we have developed this website. A place to share ideas, best practice and much else besides. Please do keep coming back to check for updates because our aim is to make this site as relevant and practical as possible.

We are also undertaking what we hope is the biggest ever survey of rural residents and business (aside from the census) to really find out what impact crime has on you. It is your chance to tell us how you feel, and we hope it will shape the future of police services in our rural communities for years to come.

Supported by the BBC, the NFU and many others besides, we hope to publish the results of the survey at the end of the summer.