CENTRAL Devon MP Mel Stride has urged the shortlist of Conservative candidates who are looking to become Devon and Cornwall’s next police and crime commissioner to ensure that farming thefts from rural locations are a priority.

The current commissioner, Tony Hogg, is standing down at the next election in May 2016.

Mr Stride said: ‘Theft and crime in Devon is no less serious than when it occurs in city centres.

‘I want my farming communities to be properly covered by future policing plans.’

Elected commissioners were created in 2012 and have replaced the now-abolished police authorities.