Lamb rustling on the rise as meat prices hit new highs

Instances of lamb rustling have increased by up to 250 per cent in the past year, fuelled by the increase in the price of the meat. Officers from the Welsh Food Fraud Co-ordination Unit say that they are seeing more cases of illicit meat sales than ever before.

Rural insurance company, NFU Mutual, said it had received more than 60,000 claims for stolen sheep by the end of October, more than two and a half times the number last year. The figures are part of a report by the food industry magazine The Grocer which said that total losses to the industry have doubled to £5m as thieves are tempted by a price of nearly £4 a kilo for lamb.