Countryside Alliance launches interactive rural crime map to expose scale of countryside crime - Countryside Alliance

The Countryside Alliance has launched a new interactive rural crime map, giving rural communities across the UK a new way to highlight the reality of crime in the countryside and help build a national evidence base for change.

Rural crime continues to have a profound impact on people who live and work in the countryside, affecting livelihoods, mental well-being and the sense of safety in rural communities. From fly-tipping and theft to poaching and livestock worrying, these crimes are often under-reported and poorly reflected in official data, leaving rural areas overlooked and under-resourced.

The Alliance’s 2025 Rural Crime Survey underlines the scale of the problem. It found that 96% of respondents believe rural crime is a significant issue in their area, while nearly three-quarters (73%) say crime has increased in the past year. Almost four in ten respondents reported being directly affected by rural crime, yet around a third of incidents were never reported to the police, often because people felt it would make no difference. Among those who did report crimes, nearly half were dissatisfied with the response.

The new interactive map is designed to address these gaps by capturing real-world experiences of rural crime and displaying them in one national picture. By collating verified reports from across the UK, the map will help identify crime hotspots, reveal emerging trends and demonstrate the true scale of rural crime, evidence that can be used to strengthen engagement with government, policing bodies, the media and other decision-makers.