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04
Nov
Rural Harrogate district home burglaries nearly double in a year
The number of home burglaries in rural areas of the Harrogate district has almost doubled in the last year, new data shows.
A Stray Ferret freedom of information request revealed North Yorkshire Police's rural crime team recorded 222 home burglaries in the 12 months between June 2025 and May 2026.
This figure, which we were told was the most recent available, is 96% higher than the 113 recorded during the same 12 month period the previous year.
We submitted the request to North Yorkshire Police after a farmer told us there had been a steep increase in rural crime.
Summer surge
Residential burglaries are now the most common crime dealt with by the team, which covers villages and countryside around Harrogate, Ripon, Knaresborough, Pateley Bridge, Masham and Boroughbridge.
July 2025 saw 36 burglaries in a single month — the highest figure for any crime type in the two years of data provided and more than one a day.
Before last summer, the team logged between one and 17 home burglaries a month. Since June 2025, there hasn’t been a month with fewer than 11.
The rise has continued this year. From January to May 2026, 83 homes were burgled, compared with 57 during the same period in 2025.
Cows on the farm that suffered the theft.
Home burglaries now make up more than a quarter of all crimes recorded by the rural crime team, up from around one in seven the year before.
Poaching increase
Poaching has also risen over the two years, more than doubling from 23 offences to 53 in the two time periods.
Overall, rural crime is up by about 6%, from 743 to 789. Over the whole two-year period, that’s a total of 1,532 crimes, equating to roughly two a day.
Local farmers are acutely aware of rural crime.
In July, seven cows worth £17,500 were stolen from a family farm in Ripley. They were later recovered and a man was arrested.
Speaking to the Stray Ferret, Kathryn Fawcett, a member of the family that owns the farm, said that she had heard of many more rural crimes taking place over recent months.
When we asked North Yorkshire Police about the figures, a spokesperson said rural crime was a "high priority" for us.
They said figures using a slightly more recent time period painted a better picture:
Between October 2024 and September 2025, there were 81 rural ward burglaries and 73 in October 2025 to September 2026, highlighting a 10% reduction in occurrences and we remain committed to tackling this and reducing numbers further.
If you see something suspicious or out of place in your area, please don’t hesitate to make a report via our website, by calling 101, or 999 if a crime is in progress.
The force said the figures were recorded by the rural crime team using its own categories, which differ from the codes used across the force, and therefore might not match the force's official crime statistics.
Police said they do not hold figures on the value of property stolen.
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