A SCHEME set up six months ago is battling against a tide of rising crime in the countryside.

The Darlington West rural watch covers an area with a population of 5,000. It has 70 members and a core committee of 12 people.

However, crime in the watch area, which stretches from Killerby to Piercebridge to Royal Oak and to the fringes of Darlington, has risen significantly this year, especially outbuilding thefts and break-ins, burglary and criminal damage. Although the number of crimes is small compared to Darlington town, more than 100 crimes have been committed in the area since January, which members say is a worrying trend.

When the rural watch scheme was launched in March, organisers warned burglars they would have nowhere to hide as they closed one of the last gaps in the neighbourhood watch network.

Since then, the group has staged regular late night stakeouts in the area alongside police.

One of their tasks is to gather information to catch the criminals who target farms, rural homes and outbuildings. The stakeouts have already caught some burglars.

The scheme was set up by beat officer PC Julian Brown, and is organised by Valerie Whitby, a councillor on Heighington Parish Council.

When a crime happens in the area, within a few minutes of it being discovered members of the scheme receive a phonecall informing them what has happened.

Mrs Whitby, said: "This means that we can get the message out more or less immediately asking people to look out for suspicious vehicles. Farmers on tractors are high up, so it can be valuable."

PC Brown said: "I have been the beat officer for this area for eight years and we have reduced crime, but over the last two years it has started to climb again.

"I'm really pleased the rural community has banded together in an attempt to tackle rural crime. It not only supports me, it helps them as well, and as police officers, we love communities who are prepared to assist us in helping themselves."

The rural watch desperately needs money to buy its own radios, which cost £350 each.

Yesterday, PC Brown said: "There is a lot of goodwill out there and if there is anybody who would like to donate money towards the radios, or help in any other way I would urge them to get in touch."

Anyone who can help can call PC Brown on 0845 60 60 365.