A total of 10% of trailers on Europe’s largest database of plant and equipment, based in the UK, are showing up as stolen.

The Equipment Register (TER), which assists in retrieving stolen plant and equipment, said 10% of checks undertaken on its database match stolen items.

This comes as data from the latest National Farmers’ Union (NFU) Mutual Rural Crime report shows that stolen trailers are often moved via Ireland to Europe, since the UK and Ireland allow trailers to be registered with the towing number, not their own registration plates.

The report found that soaring second-hand market values and higher finance costs were fuelling the trend for thieves to target trailers to sell them to Eastern Europe.

Database

The Equipment Register database includes 1.6m items, of which 850,000 are trailers.

The Equipment Register’s data director Treve Jenkyn said trailer owners are facing increasing obstacles to prevent theft.

“Thieves are using technologies such as drones and trackers to identify trailers to steal, even when they are supposedly stored securely on a farm’s premises.

“Thieves put their trackers on target trailers to identify location for easy theft. They are also using social media sites like Facebook Marketplace to sell stolen equipment.”

Trailers recovered

Valerie Isted, who owns Equinity Trailers in England, has a fleet of 60 Ifor Williams horseboxes for short- and long-term hires that are all registered with The Equipment Register.

Isted said two of their horseboxes were recovered through the database.

“Every time someone runs a check against one of our horseboxes, the Equipment Register contacts ourselves as the registered owners to let us know.

“On one recent occasion, we were alerted to a check on one of our Ifor Williams horseboxes that was being advertised for sale on Facebook Marketplace in Blackpool, some 300 miles away.

“Although the thieves had caused some damage to the trailer’s chassis, we were delighted to be able to recover our property and prevent it being sold on,” she said.

Crime report

The new figures from the Equipment Register are in line with data from the latest National Farmers’ Union (NFU) Mutual Rural Crime report in the UK, which found that the cost of rural crime rose sharply by 22% in 2022, reaching a total estimate of £49.5m insured.

This report showed that trailer thefts saw the biggest increase when compared with other types of rural crime, with figures up 66%.

The report found that soaring second-hand market values and higher finance costs were fuelling the trend for thieves to target trailers to sell them to Eastern Europe.