Earlier this year the Guardian released an article titled ‘UK sall towns and villages how have you been affected by antisocial behaviour?’ this is following news that a resident’s action group in Whalley village, located in the Ribble Valley, Lancashire, were protesting against the noise and antisocial behaviour at a nightclub located on a residential street. This is compounded by the fact that these villages, like Whalley, have become ‘a premier drinking destination during the warmer months and bank holiday weekends.[1] This highlights a growing problem also highlighted by Cleveland’s PCC, located in rural north Yorkshire. There they note that ‘Rural residents raise their concerns about antisocial behaviour’ following a survey from the PCC, antisocial behaviour was reported by 33.3 per cent of residents as their top concerns, and agencies noted that they felt ‘rural crime was taken less seriously than crime in more urban areas’.[2] While growing attention is placed on our urban centres, where often need is highest, rural areas are too often neglected, perceived as being idyllic, tranquil areas not affected by antisocial behaviour. Understanding this, and also that large studies have largely left exploring ASB impacts and contributors in rural locations, it is important therefore to consider what is often not reviewed on the policy agenda when looking at the issues rural areas face with antisocial behaviour.
A survey titled the ‘Social Attitudes Survey’ highlighted the fact that even though rural areas ‘statistically suffer from less ASB, there is a commonly held misconception, that this means that the impact of ASB on rural areas is also less.[3] There is also a perception that as there is less ASB in rural areas, that this ASB is therefore less serious than that present in urban locations. Despite the geographical and spatial challenges present in these areas, a University of Dundee research paper argues that, despite there being distinct aspects of ASB present, it typically mirrors that experienced in urban locations.[4] The role of the community in anti-social behaviour, has been one of a recent shift in policy making. The paper also argues therefore, that the community is important in safeguarding and preventing the most serious cases of anti-social behaviour, has a unique characteristic in rural communities, in that rural police officers have a specific role within the community, and therefore play a key role in structuring the policing response to ASB in rural areas.
Perception of the rural area and ASB
ASB plays an important role in the rural environment despite having lower prevalence than urban areas. This is largely, as we know that underreporting creates a huge challenge and a vicious cycle with ASB, and this is particularly a problem with rural ASB as it is underreported (Millie, 2009). There is also a compounding factor that police are often committed to the community they are policing in rural areas. So therefore, there are fewer incidences of ASB in rural areas, however the harm and impact can be as great, if not greater in urban locations. There is also a noted perception that ‘rural communities are analogous with an increased ability to embrace’, what is called the ‘responsibilization agenda’, a perception of self-reliance, self-policing. There is also a concept of the ‘rural idyll’ which frames debates when considering ASB. It is noted there is a ‘deprived’ and ‘endangered’ countryside which needs to be considered when responding to disorder. Perception, therefore, much like in urban areas, is important in addressing ASB, and combatting a vicious cycle of perception that creates realities.
The diverse needs of rural areas
As mentioned previously, rural areas are under analysed in the literature, and therefore their need are not properly signposted, as well as their relevant remedies. For example, we know that in urban areas, we know that certain premises such as pubs and gambling businesses show reportedly increased instances of anti-social behaviour a study from Northumbria University supported this, showing ‘a significant relationship between pubs and crimes classified as public disorder’, more importantly however, the analysis shows that ‘rural areas experience a much lower incidence of crime issues related to the number of pubs compare to more urbanised areas, confirming the positive role played by pubs within rural communities’.[5] This, therefore, shows an effective in rural policing by using pubs as signs of community cohesion and trust within local communities.
What is therefore suggested, is a need for more data, more research and therefore a targeted, localised approach to anti-social behaviour in our local communities. The differing impacts felt by pubs in urban and rural areas highlights how while the impacts are felt similarly, if not more in rural areas, the causes and contributing factors are differing and therefore worthy of study.
Differing ASB in rural areas
Rural areas, due to their unique geography, face differing ASB than urban areas. One of the most frequently cited problems within rural areas is the issue of fly tipping, the Cleveland PCC survey notes that this was raised by 61.3% of respondents. Fly-tipping is made an offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, fines can be issued of £400, and the courts have various powers available including imprisonment, unlimited fines, and an order to seize and deny rights to a vehicle used to commit the offence. One of the most common crimes in rural areas, it creates serious issues for those who are left to deal with it, including, for example, being one of the only crims where the ‘victims have a legal responsibility to dispose of the waste’ in this case, private landowners. It is estimated it affects 67% of farmers, and costs them £47 million every year, only 1 in 600 incidents of fly-tipping lead to a prosecution, and there were 997,553 incidents of illegal dumping in 2017-18 alone.[6] Often it can feel impossible to get recourse for such a crime, however, it is possible to effectively deter and police this form of anti-social behaviour, a good example of this was a ‘multi-agency initiative’ to tackle ‘fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour in Anglesey’.[7] The initiative utilised various teams and was attended by the ‘Mobile CCTV Enforcement Officer’ as well as ‘Enforcement, Community and Civil Enforcement, Selective Licensing, and Street Services’, joined by Staffordshire Police and ASB Harmony, it resulted in positive outcomes in enforcement, duty of care inspections and fixed penalty notices. This echoes what we at Resolve have been reiterating, that effective multi-agency working is key, highlighted not only on our busy urban streets, but also in our rural communities.
Another high-profile form of anti-social behaviour affecting rural areas is so-called ‘heritage crime’, namely those affecting heritage sites across Britain, this is not just limited to damage but also ‘physical abuse of staff, metal theft’ or others such as ‘graffiti’.[8] Research by the heritage insurer Ecclesiastical has found that nine in 10 heritage organisations surveyed had suffered a crime in the previous 12 months, and of 500 decision-makers responding to a survey, 35% said they have been forced to close their sites as a result and 41% said it had negatively impacted staff and volunteer morale. Between the years 2020 to 2023, it was reported that in a recent report by Historic England and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) that there was a rise in certain types of heritage crimes, such as acquisitive crimes, linked to rising inflation and the cost-of-living crisis. [9] Churches Conservation Trust makes it clear that the public are the best line of defence when combatting heritage crime, and that prompt and descriptive reporting can help safeguard historic sites.
Often, when we think of anti-social behaviour, and in more in general, vandalism particularly in rural areas, we perceive it to be the work of opportunistic individuals, however a report from Durham University commissioned by the NRCN (National Rural Crime Network), which found that many of these crimes are committed by ‘prolific rural offenders’.[10] This included even larger scale crimes, as reported by senior criminologist Dr Kate Tudor, found that many rural criminals are involved in the supply and sale of drugs. Shockingly, a survey carried out by the Countryside Alliance found that 97% of rural respondents felt that crime was a significant problem in their community, with 43% reporting that they had been the victim of crime in the past 12 months. This has led, like ASB often does, to a ‘collapse in police-community relationships’ with an assumption that ‘police do not take rural crime seriously’, creating a vicious cycle of under reporting. It was reported to tackle this effectively, that the use of collaboration is key, between farmers, policymakers and police forces. It is also recommended from the report, that we can recruit specialist rural crime coordinators, implementing tougher controls at ports and borders, and issuing rural crime sentencing guidelines. [11]
Concluding thoughts
Despite the lower prevalence of ASB, ASB still blights our rural communities and creates pernicious impacts that ripple throughout. What is also clear, is that greater data is needed, as is data needed in all aspects of community safety research, to best tackle and service communities, particularly rural communities which are underrepresented in this field of study. We must be reflective and understanding of the impacts that geography and place can have crime and safety, and therefore show a multi-agency, targeted approach to this issue, considering the unique crimes and issues that rural communities face, such as heritage crime and fly-tipping. We welcome an open dialogue on these issues.
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jun/24/uk-small-towns-and-villages-how-have-you-been-affected-by-antisocial-behaviour
[2] https://www.cleveland.pcc.police.uk/news/rural-residents-raise-their-concerns-about-antisocial-behaviour/
[3] Ormston & Anderson, 2009
[4]https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/6186556/andrew_wooff_space_place_and_the_policing_of_ASB_in_rural_Scotland.pdf
[5] https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/news-events/news/pubs-and-crime/
[6] https://www.countryside-alliance.org/campaigns/communities/fly-tipping
[7] https://www.eaststaffsbc.gov.uk/news/2023/multi-agency-initiative-tackle-fly-tipping-and-anti-social-behaviour-anglesey
[8] https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/2024/08/heritage-sites-report-increase-in-crime-and-anti-social-behaviour/#
[9] https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/2024/03/english-heritage-trials-body-worn-cameras-amid-rising-heritage-crime/
[10] https://www.nfuonline.com/updates-and-information/national-rural-crime-network-report/
[11] https://nationalruralcrimenetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/NRCN-OCG-10-Point-.pdf?download=NRCN-OCG-10-Point-.pdf
