DURING the early hours of Tuesday, August 18, police received a telephone call from a Chawleigh resident, Ricki Stevens, stating that his house had been entered and a motor vehicle had been stolen as a result.

Mr Stevens gave chase in another vehicle and followed it to Copplestone across lanes and fields.

Local police units and Mr Stevens located the stolen vehicle, which was abandoned down a farm track in the Crediton area.

A police dog deployed to the area, picked up a track and located four people in a nearby field.

All four were arrested and interviewed for theft related offences.

They have now been bailed for further enquiries to take place.

Police Sgt Dave MacFadden, the Neighbourhood Team Leader for Crediton and Cullompton, Devon and Cornwall Police, said: “I would like to thank all those involved.

“Their actions resulted in the recovery of the stolen vehicle and the arrest of four potential suspects.

“This was a great team effort by all, which included police units from different areas and departments and also some members of the public.

“I hope this gives our rural communities some reassurance that even with the challenging financial situation my force finds itself in with reducing numbers and resources we were on this occasion able to respond swiftly to an incident in a rural location with a positive result.

“However, I do have words of warning on the back of this as it may not always be the case in the future.

CHALLENGE BUDGETS

“Given the recent news about further government police budget cuts ahead to our force area to the tune of £11 million, the Chief Constable and the Police and Crime Commissioner will have some difficult decisions to make on how to deal with these further budget cuts.

“I would urge our local communities to go onto the Police and Crime Commissioner’s website and sign the ‘Fairer Funding Campaign’ so we can try and address this issue in the way that our force is funded and the amount of money we receive compared to other forces.

“As Police Officers our hands are tied in relation to this matter.

“We police by consent and it is up to our local communities to challenge these budget cuts and the way we are funded.

“I would recommend that they take these issues to their local MP.

“It will be difficult to challenge or complain about it after the event!

“My team and I will always try and deliver the best service we can with the limited amount of resources we have available.”