A FARMER has spoken of her horrifying ordeal after coming face-to-face with an armed thief.

Rachel Raine, who works on Townfoot Farm at East Woodburn, run by her parent’s Robert and Jackie Raine, claimed she caught an intruder during daylight hours carrying a knife.

At 2.30pm on Thursday, she spotted the man making off with a quad bike. When she went out to confront him, she claimed he pulled out the knife.

Shocked by the weapon, she let go of the man and he fled off in his car within seconds.

Rachel said: “To think that people are carrying knives is frightening, and they probably all carry them when they come on to farms.

“When I found out he had a knife in his pocket, I immediately let go of him and he ran off.

“He had driven off by the time my mam tried to get his number plate.

“It was over that quickly, I didn’t really have time to think what was going on. It was only afterwards when I realised how bad it could have been.

“To be honest, I was more concerned about getting my quad bike back at the time.”

It was not the first time the family had been a victim of crime, with two quads being stolen from a garage around 10 years ago.

And Rachel said farmers were concerned about rural crime across the district.

“It was not the first time we have been targeted, and, unfortunately, it won’t be the last,” she said.

“They seem to be more brazen these days, especially doing it at that time of the day.”

Police confirmed they received a report of an attempted theft at the farm in East Woodburn, where it is understood a man trying to take a quad bike from the yard was disturbed by the owner before fleeing the scene.

They are asking anyone with information to contact police on 101, quoting reference number 632 of the 15/11/18, or Crimestoppers (0800) 555 111.