West Mercia Police are reinforcing their commitment to the rural community by launching a new campaign, ’Rural Matters’.

The first initiative of the campaign is ’50 days of focus’ which was launched on Thursday, October 1st, and aims to raise awareness of the policing activities happening each and every day in rural communities to help reduce crime.

Different activities will be taking place every day, from crime prevention advice to information on rural crime operations and these will be highlighted on the campaign page: www.westmercia.police.uk/ruralmatters

Superintendent Sue Thomas, business lead for rural and business crime said: "50 days of focus is our opportunity to highlight the good work our local policing teams are doing each and every day. When crime occurs in the rural community it can have a major impact on the victim, it can affect their livelihood and their ability to do business when items are stolen or damaged and it can also create a fear of crime in isolated rural locations.

"One of the challenges of policing in rural communities is the vast distances between properties and businesses. We are working hard with our partners at ways of bringing us closer to the people who need us at times they want to see us and we are committed to providing crime prevention advice to help people protect their property and reduce crime."

Deputy Police & Crime Commissioner for West Mercia Barrie Sheldon said: "Rural crime has been a priority for myself and Bill for some time, and we are very pleased to support these ’50 days of focus’, to help demonstrate exactly how much work is being done across the three counties on a daily basis to reduce harm and prevent crime in our rural communities."

"We are still totally committed to providing the necessary resources to effectively tackle rural crime, and we hope people will be reassured by the range and amount of positive action being taken by the police, in conjunction with other partners."