CONCERNS were raised about thefts of ride-on mowers.

Councillor Brian Perkins asked PCSO Stephen May, who is from the neighbourhood policing team covering Fordingbridge about this during a meeting of the town council on March 5.

PCSO May said: “That is happening. It is out of Fordingbridge town. It is not just ride-on mowers unfortunately. It’s ride-on mowers, mini tractors, Gators and things like that. There is a peak in that at the moment not just around here. It is further down into Ringwood, Burley, Bransgore, Sopley.

“It is also over the border in Wiltshire and Dorset. With reports I’m getting it is a nationwide thing. It is really sought after stuff at the moment.”

“There is a lot of work going on tri-county,” he added. “We are just trying to get people to really secure things.”

The Fordingbridge beat report for February reported a total of 48 “occurrences” being reported to police - 17 of which were recordable as crime.

Of the crimes reported a ride-on mower being taken from a barn.

The number of recordable crimes has dropped compared to last month. In January, there were a total of 90 occurrences – 35 were recordable as crime.