SIX police forces have teamed up to tackle rural crime across the north of England.

The joint operation covered 3,500 sq miles covering the counties of Durham, North Yorkshire and Cumbria and the Northumbria force area.

A total of 100 police officers and support staff were directly involved in patrolling and coordinating activity from the Scottish border and as far south as Skipton in North Yorkshire.

In addition, 145 volunteers, predominantly from the farming community, assisted in monitoring key locations to support police activity.

As a result of the operation over 40 vehicles were stopped and checked and another 91 were processed through the Police National Computer.

One individual linked to rural acquisitive crime was stopped and searched in the Sedgefield area.

Six men arrested in the Ferryhill area on suspicion of damaging farm property are subject to ongoing enquiries.

Taking place on the night of 6-7 September, the Farm Watch joint initiative was over the largest area so far covered.

It built on the recent success of the Wear and Tees scheme being named best Community Scheme at this year's Country Crime Fighters Awards, organised by NFU Mutual.

Sergeant Harry Marsh from the Barnard Castle policing team said: "We will continue to work with local people and other forces to show that rural areas are not easy targets for criminals."

Durham Constabulary and other north-east police forces involved in the operation said they were committed to continuing Farm Watch over a large area.

County Durham currently has the lowest crime figures since 1983. Police say initiatives like Farm Watch are helping to drive down crime within rural areas.