RURAL crime will be on the agenda when Police and Crime Commissioner Michael Lane visits the Isle of Wight next month.


Mr Lane will hold a series of conferences across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight during February to seek the views of rural communities, as he seeks to develop a rural crime strategy for the two counties.

Eighty-five per cent of the area covered by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police is rural, and the aim of the events is to give people who live and work in rural communities an opportunity to explain how they are affected by crime.

Mr Lane said: "The mix of rural and urban areas across the constabulary area present unique policing challenges.

"This is a chance for your voices and views to be heard whether you live, work or run a business in rural areas."

Speakers at the events will include the Island's lord lieutenant, Maj Gen Martin White, the Earl of Selborne, Baron Montagu of Beaulieu and Sparsholt College principal Tim Jackson.

The Isle of Wight event will be held at the Riverside Centre, Newport, at 9am on February 15.

Tickets are free, but booking is essential. Book a place here.