NORTH Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan was one of the speakers at the fourth Crimestoppers conference.

Mrs Mulligan, who is chairman of the National Rural Crime Network, addressed organisations from law enforcement, the fire service and insurance sector.

She revealed that a national survey exploring the effects of rural crime would be carried out next month.

The delegates joined crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers in pledging to tackle the issue of rural crime and help keep communities safer.

Around 250 delegates attended the event at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham last Wednesday.

Other speakers included former Craven Herald journalist Tim Price, of insurer NFU Mutual.

Sue Langley, head of regions for Crimestoppers, said: “The rural crime conference continues to go from strength to strength and reinforces the commitment of so many people determined to tackle rural crime.

“The key thing for all of us now is to ensure we carry out the actions that have been outlined from the event. We owe it to the communities in rural areas to tackle the issues they face, and not to let them down.”