Farm Watch, the rural equivalent of neighbourhood Watch schemes, are designed to help people in rural areas look after each other, tackling crimes such as metal theft, crop damage and poaching, which affect a large number of farmers each year.

The scheme encourages rural communities to become more vigilant in their crime awareness and to adopt stringent security measures.

PC David Jenkins said: "Farm Watch has been going for a number of years but in some places participation in the scheme has dwindled.

"We are here today to get more people from the rural community involved, because the more eyes we have, the more effective we can be in stopping crime."

To promote the scheme police launched a competition to guess the number of balloons in a police tractor, with any money raised being put into promoting Farm Watch.

Details about Driffield Farm Watch can be obtained from Driffield Police Station.