
It was on Sunday past, but we’ve only just got the goss about the police action in Sparty Lea. Carrie drove through the thick of it, on the way up the Sparty Lea bridge, but more details have come to light from excited whispers passed on by neighbours and friends.
Apparently (reportedly) a gang of miscreants have been skulking around the area in a silver-white tranny, looking for likely targets to steal from this blissful rural setting. Quad bikes have been the most common target in the past, and so it seemed were again. One of our neighbours up the road had called in the police when they identified strangers with head torches in the darkness where they shouldn’t have been. The response was quick, expeditious. Though it was clear that the dog handlers couldn’t figure out quite where to go (we watched the van slowly driving up and down the road below us), some five suspects were eventually apprehended as they tried to scarper through the fields.
Whether they were caught red-handed with stolen loot, or apprehended before they could take anything, it was a relief to feel the surety of a concerted police presence. There were at least four police vehicles, as reported, including two unmarked cars, during the action.
We’ve never felt unsafe up in these fellsides, ever, but then we really don’t have anything worth stealing. I don’t think any baddy would be able to get my little John Deere garden tractor out of the field! All of our electronic equipment is already second-hand. So we’re pretty nonchalant about these things, but just the idea of a gang of would-be thieves skulking around, yuk!
So this little entry goes out with some gratitude to the police force who are especially targeting rural crime these days, and who apparently have had some success in their pursuit over the weekend. Here’s the brief report in the Hexham Courant. Thank you!