POLICE officers are to be trained by farmers to identify livestock breeds in a drive to crack down on sheep rustlers.

More than 12,000 sheep were stolen in the North East, including Yorkshire, last year, sparking £1 million of insurance claims, according to NFU Mutual, amid a five-fold surge nationally in livestock theft over the past five years.

Earlier this year, 72 breeding ewes, worth more than £11,000, were stolen from the Bowburn area of Durham, which only came to light when the farmer counted his sheep ahead of the lambing season.

Farmer Rodney Kettlewell, who lost 20 sheep from his farm at Finghall, near Leyburn, last year said the theft had come as a blow as the sheep had been bred for future stock.

He added: "The sheep are quite a distance from the farm and the problem is there are a lot of footpaths and quite a few of the gates can't be locked."

Chief Inspector Nick Hunter, of North Yorkshire Police, said as there had been a sheep rustling incident in the county nearly every week last year, an initiative was being introduced to increase the number of thieves caught while moving the livestock.

The force said giving officers in rural areas the skills to tell the difference between breeds such as Wensleydale and Swaledale, and understand about ear tagging and documentation, would help them determine whether livestock was being legitimately transported or was stolen.

Officers have been given high-tech wands to read ear tags, but as thieves can remove them immediately, the Shepherd's Guide will also be available to provide details of the unique markings of individual flocks.

The force is also creating a group of farmers it can call on to assist officers at the roadside when suspicious vehicles carrying sheep are stopped, alongside a move looking at intelligence from several counties, including Durham, as part of an investigation into outlets for the stolen livestock.

North Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan said a sheep rustling incident could amount to a tragedy for a farmer.

She said: "If £40,000 of jewellery was stolen out of the front of a jewellers shop people would instantly know what it meant.

"When £40,000 of sheep go people have a bit of a titter and think it's funny, but it isn't. It's not only £40,000 of stock that's gone, it's a farmer's entire life work very often in breeding those lines of sheep."