Officers from Staffordshire Police have begun a week of action to tackle wildlife and rural crime in the community.

The week of action, which started yesterday (Monday December 6) will see officers focus on anticipated seasonal crime trends which may affect rural communities.

Officers working on #OperationAppleorchid as part of the force's Rural and Wildlife Crime Unit (RWCU), will concentrate on green routes.

This will involve officers patrolling areas including turkey, poultry and Christmas tree farms, to help prevent possible thefts from rural properties and poaching during the dark winter nights.

Police will also patrol rural routes to provide enhanced visibility to residents in order to provide reassurance and deter those looking to commit crime in these areas.

Chief. Insp Mark Thorley said: "It is vital that we work across the county with our rural communities, as we approach the festive season, in order to protect and support them while also preventing and deterring rural crime.

"The week will also enable us to identify communities who require further long-term support from the force and engage with residents, supporting businesses and reassure people we are doing what we can to protect them.

"Due to their remote locations it is important that our rural communities feel reassured that we are here to act on their concerns – and understand what matters to them."

Chief Inspector Scott Gidman, from East Staffordshire's Neighbourhood Policing Team, added: "We hope that our presence in these areas will help prevent crime from occurring, in the lead up to Christmas, as well as enable us to engage with our rural communities on the ground in order to tackle issues that are important to them."