IT IS not quite an electronic spy in the sky but the information superhighway is being engaged to keep farms down remote rural lanes safer from thieves.

The county's farm computer training network Pentalk has joined forces with Cumbria Constabulary to launch Farmwatch Online.

Officers at the sharp end of law enforcement will e-mail details of farm crimes to Pentalk's farming webmaster Steven Pattinson as soon as they are logged. Mr Pattinson will then immediately upload them onto the www.pentalk.org website.

Farmers can log on to access these up-to-date reports plus relevant security advice, something police hope will help prevent thefts of machinery, quad bikes, powertools and occasionally livestock from our farms.

The force has contributed £1,000 to get the scheme up and running as a means to give farmers accurate and timely information about criminal activity in their area.

Its enthusiastic proponent, Assistant Chief Constable Graham Sunderland, said farms were targeted by thieves, including many travelling-in from the North East. He believes Farmwatch Online will cut the pickings for opportunistic criminals.

"Because farmers are in isolated places and, for example, they have a quad bike in a field, they will leave it with the keys in because they think it won't happen to me' and they can see the bike. But chances are they will forget because we all do, come back and find its gone.

"If we can alert them to say we have got thieves operating in the area', they might think twice and take the keys, or take the bike to where they're working. Farmers can also be the eyes and ears to catch the thieves if they know they're around and see something suspicious.

"We have got to be realistic, we can't swamp the county with police patrols because of the sheer size of the place. Anything we can do to slam the door on the criminal is good, this is another way of doing that it's not tokenism."

Pentalk chairman Joe Harris said: "It only takes a minute to switch on the computer and check the Farmwatch news. We are asking all farmers and particularly our 1,800 members who all have computers, to keep in touch and work together, and with us provide the eyes and ears that will catch these thieves."

Ann Risman, of Pentalk, who put the scheme together after a suggestion from a farmer, said the county's farmers worked too hard to have their property stolen by casual villains.