AVON and Somerset police are leading the way in the South-West in reducing the theft of plant machinery.

As part of the ongoing Relentless against Vehicle Crime campaign, police are holding a seminar this week for people from local plant manufacturers, dealers, and hire companies, to learn about how to keep their machinery secure.

Police say that much of the plant in use at the moment is not registered anywhere, is difficult to identify, has no obvious owner and is often not insured.

Put together, all these issues can be a real challenge to police when they are recovered and suspected stolen.

Guests at the seminar at police headquarters, Portishead, will be learning about the new registration scheme for plant machinery - CESAR - Construction Equipment Security and Registration.

Under the CESAR scheme owners marks their plant with a number plate, etched numbers electronic tags and microdots. The plant is then entered onto a national plant register and, where appropriate, registered with the DVLA.

Plant marked under the CESAR scheme will be a deterrent to thieves, and will be easier to examine at the roadside during police checks.

Chief Insp John Holt, volume crime team, said: "Plant machinery can be worth thousands of pounds to businesses, farms, or even home owners. The loss of a key piece of machinery to a business could mean a massive loss of earnings and work to the business owner and could even lead to the folding of a small business.

"We want to not only prevent the theft of the plant by giving owners better security options and registration but also make it easier to reunite recovered stolen machinery with its rightful owner."