Thames Valley Police has closed its investigation into a reported sheep theft near Chadlington. No sheep were stolen: farm staff had miscounted the flock.

No sheep were stolen from a farm near Chadlington, Thames Valley Police has concluded, and the theft investigation that ran for three weeks is closed.

The force published its decision at 3.10pm on Tuesday 22 September. Its statement is short, and worth giving in full:

Thames Valley Police is no longer investigating a reported theft of sheep from a farm near Chadlington, reported to the force on 2 September. Following enquiries, it has been established that no sheep were stolen. The report was found to be the result of an accidental miscount by farm staff, and all sheep have since been accounted for. As no offence has been identified, the investigation has now been closed.

The reported theft had been picked up widely in early September, framed around the farm’s location in the Chipping Norton area. The force’s own record now says there was nothing behind it: the flock was miscounted, and every sheep has been found.

One detail is worth noting. The closure notice is the first and only mention of the case in the force’s online newsroom. No appeal about the reported theft was ever published on the force’s website, so the closure statement is the only first-party record the case has.

The anxiety behind the reports is not imaginary, even if this theft was. Rural insurer NFU Mutual puts the cost of rural crime in the UK at an estimated £41.5 million in 2025, down 6% on the year, and it funded the UK’s first dedicated livestock theft officer in 2025. Its Rural Crime Report is the standard national measure, because most rural theft is claimed against insurance rather than traced through court.

What it means for you

  • If you saw reports of a sheep theft near Chadlington and are worried about livestock crime locally, the force’s record now says this one did not happen.
  • Rural crime is still real, and reporting it still matters. Suspected livestock theft can be reported to Thames Valley Police on 101 or through the force’s online reporting pages.
  • Farmers who spot discrepancies in a flock count are not wrong to report them. The force closed this case without criticising anyone: its statement calls the report an accidental miscount, nothing more.

Elsewhere in the Chipping Norton area this week, the town’s S3 bus to Oxford was retimed and its Charlbury journeys renumbered S3A as part of Saturday’s county-wide shake-up. The route-by-route detail is in Witney’s buses changed on 20 September.

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