The number of agricultural crimes reported in Northern Ireland in the 12 months to 30 June 2017 increased by 9.9% to 566 cases, most recent figures published by the PSNI indicate.

Agricultural crime is defined by the PSNI as incidents of burglary, robbery or theft relating to agricultural-based activity.

The Newry, Mourne and Down policing district had the most cases of agricultural crime over the 12-month period with 92 cases reported, representing a 10.8% annual increase.

Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon had the next highest number of cases at 87, although this equates to a 13% drop year-on-year.

Earlier this week, insurance company NFU Mutual published a report stating that the cost of crime in rural areas in Northern Ireland (not just agricultural crime) decreased by 15% in the 2016 calendar year to £2.5m.

A similar trend is seen in figures from the PSNI for 2016 which show that the number of crimes reported in rural areas decreased by 6% to 5,987 cases last year.

However, agricultural crimes increased marginally in 2016 by 1.2% to 560 cases.