NFU Scotland members are invited to a north-east rural crime event at Gray Farms, Portsoy, on Wednesday, December 1.

The event, to be opened by regional chair Alan Simpson, will include a keynote speech on tackling rural crime from Inspector Alan Dron, Police Scotland National Rural Crime co-ordinator. For attendees, there will be workshops on:

• CCTV - Firestream – NFUS affinity partner

• Cyber Crime - Police Scotland

• Valtra – Importance of security on vehicles

• Quad Bikes/ ATV’s – Ollie White

• Wildlife Crime - Police Scotland

• Red Cross/ Scottish Ambulance - Defibrillator demonstrations and dealing with trauma Injuries

• NFU Mutual – risk management

• DNA kits - Police Scotland

• Mental Health Station - Police Scotland and SAMH

NFUS north-east regional chair, Alan Simpson commented: "We are deeply indebted to the Gray family for all their help and support in hosting this event. The farm buildings at Portsoy are ideal for these workshops. Similarly, we are very appreciative to Valtra Tractors and Alistair Young for providing soup and sandwich lunches for everyone.

“Police Scotland work well with us locally, and Mike Urquhart and his team are in close contact with us at all times. Mike’s team will be on hand to cover various elements of rural crime activities. With the ongoing and unrelenting incidents up here, we feel sure that NFUS Members will be keen to understand more about the criminal tactics employed and learn how to combat these, using a variety of tools and techniques.

“Let’s be frank: our family members, our staff and our businesses are highly valuable and well worth investing our time upon. We look forward to seeing you on December 1.”

Read more: Cost of theft in rural Scotland falls

North-east crime reduction officer, PC Mike Urquhart, said: “Police Scotland are delighted to once again work in partnership with NFUS to raise awareness of crime within our rural communities and ensure our countryside is a safe place to work, live and visit.

“Officers from the North East Crime Reduction Team will be working with a range of partner agencies at our event in Portsoy to provide advice on how to keep farms safer and more secure.

“Raising awareness about the steps farmers can take to protect their property is vitally important to tackle crime. With the increasing threat posed by serious organised crime groups throughout Scotland we want to ensure those that farm and look after our countryside have the skills and knowledge to keep their working environment safe.

“Workshops at Portsoy will include security marking, CCTV, physical security measures as well as how to stay safe online."

Read more: Partnership to tackle Trossachs rural crime