20 February 2013 Last updated at 11:38 ET

Police forces across northern England unite to tackle rural crime

Five police forces united to carry out a rural crime operation which covered about 4,000 sq miles of northern England.

Durham, Cleveland, Cumbria, Northumbria and North Yorkshire were involved in the operation on Tuesday, which was part of the Farm Watch initiative.

The operation involved 95 officers and almost 150 volunteers.

Although no major arrests were made, an attempt to steal a large amount of fuel from a Teesdale farm was averted.

House searched

A spokesman for Durham Police, which hosted the operation, said: "During the night a large number of vehicles and people were stop-checked.

"In Teesdale a vehicle made off from police and four large empty plastic drums used for the theft of diesel were abandoned.

"The vehicle was traced to an address in Shildon in County Durham, where a house was searched and inquiries are ongoing to trace the suspects

"This incident alone proved the value of the police and local volunteers working together on this type of operation to tackle both local and cross border crime."