Arrest made as police recover £40,000 vehicle and tools stolen in Belford

It was reported that an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and various tools were stolen from a premises in Belford, while on the same night, police were also alerted to an attempted burglary after three men were seen climbing into a storage compound in the same area.

Since, officers recovered a £40,000 vehicle and arrested a suspect believed to be responsible for a spate of incidents – all within 24 hours.

An investigation was immediately launched under the banner of Operation Hawkeye, Northumbria Police’s dedicated initiative to tackle acquisitive rural crime, and officers were deployed to the respective scenes to carry out enquiries.

After working with the local community, officers were able to track the suspects and successfully located the stolen items within 24 hours of the burglary.

A 22-year-old man was subsequently arrested on suspicion of burglary.

Chief Inspector Phil Mcconville, of Northumbria Police, said: “This was an excellent outcome after some brilliant work by a number of officers – and I hope this swift outcome offers reassurance to those living in our most remote areas of the force.

“We are committed to tackling all forms of rural crime, and have a dedicated policing team who are tasked with detecting and preventing incidents, and ensuring anybody responsible is brought to justice.

“Significant work is ongoing in our rural communities as we look to build on recent successes, with the team having recovered more than £1 million of stolen equipment or machinery since being set up in 2020. Their work is, as ever, superbly assisted by our partners and Rural Crime Volunteers and a number of operations are lined up throughout 2023 to maintain this momentum.

“We are delighted to have been able to reunite the victim with the ATV so quickly, and will continue to use every tactic at our disposal in order to tackle rural crime and put offenders before the courts.”

The man is currently on police bail with enquiries ongoing.

Anyone who sees anything suspicious in their community is asked to report it to police via the ‘Tell Us Something’ page of the website or by calling 101. In an emergency, or if a crime is taking place, always ring 999.