A farmer in North Wales has turned to a new anti-theft device to help beat thieves. The theft of farm quads has been rising in the area, with insurance firm NFU Mutual revealing that quad thefts from farms rose to £1.7 million by the end of 2010.
Farmer John Bletcher invested in an anti-theft system called the Datatag which is able to mark quad bikes and protect them, along with protecting property. The Datatag system relies on state of the art technology to deter thieves. Farms are targeted by thieves due to their rural locations and the insurance companies latest figures suggest that theft in rural regions is on the rise.
Thieves often target older farm quads without security measures fitted as standard. Some manufacturers of the latest ATVs now fit Datatag as standard, leaving older models as prime targets. The technology of the Datatag means that identification tags can be hidden on the quad bike or machinery and these tags are unique. If the vehicle was stolen, the thief would have the task of trying to find and remove these tags before selling the vehicle on, which would prove almost impossible.
If the vehicle is stolen, all the police have to do is check a couple of the tags to be able to identify it as they cross match the tags with a 24 hour database. This allows them to return the stolen property to its owner. Datatag state that quad bikes and other forms of property are less likely to be stolen as a result and there is more chance of it being recovered than property without the tags.