LATE-night quad bike thieves were foiled after a GPS vehicle tracker alerted its owner it was being stolen.

At about 2.30am on Wednesday December 16, a farmer near Gargrave received an alert that his quad bike was being moved.

He called North Yorkshire Police but the suspects had fled over fields into the darkness. However, they left empty-handed, leaving the Honda quad behind them in the farmyard.

Enquiries are ongoing, including forensic examination of items at the scene of the burglary.

PCSOs from North Yorkshire Police’s Rural Taskforce attended the farm today to provide crime prevention advice.

Sixteen incidents involving the theft of quad bikes were reported in North Yorkshire in October 2020 – the same number as in October 2019. Quads are specifically targeted by criminals, as they are relatively small, valuable and left in sparsely-populated areas.

Inspector Matt Hagen, of North Yorkshire Police’s Rural Taskforce, said: “Quite apart from their monetary value, the loss of a quad can have a really significant impact on farms and other rural businesses. The good news is security measures, in particular vehicle trackers, can be extremely effective.”

Security measure to increase security can include a GPS tracking device, locking and securing the machine in a building, marking it to make it identifiable and keeping the keys in a different location.