SCIENCE is scaring crime gangs away from Borders farms - just weeks after being introduced in the Borders.

A rural forensic marking scheme was launched by local Police at the start of September.

Almost 200 farms have already benefitted from the new SelectaDNA marking scheme, where valuable goods and machinery is sprayed with the invisible DNA.

And the results have been instant with housebreaking down by almost 25 per cent, from 53 to 40, on the previous year.

The number of vehicle thefts has also dropped from 34, for the first six months of 2014/15, to 26 for the same period this year.

Chief Inspector Andy McLean said: "The signage which accompanies these DNA packs alerts gangs and is deterring them.

"A lot of work is going on to prevent rural crime."

Dozens of remote properties are targeted each year by thieves - with rural crime across the whole of Scotland believed to cost around £40 million each year.

As well as offering the DNA kits, crime prevention officers hold farm walk and talk sessions.

Police Scotland and the Community Planning Partnership at Scottish Borders Council funded the scheme in partnership with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

PC Nick Walker, Crime Prevention Officer with Police Scotland, added: "Key to the success of these kits is the use of perimeter warning signage and window stickers to deter thieves by alerting them to the fact that valuable items on the farms have been marked.

"We are determined to target thieves wherever they operate to ensure that our rural communities are safe from those trying to profit from criminal gain.”