Metal Thefts Costing Economy £770m a year!

Companies such as Network Rail and British Telecom are backing proposals that means all scrap metal dealers are to be licensed to hope that this will stop so much scrap metal dealings in the future.

MPs including Philip Davies will attempt to “talk out” the Bill.

Mr Davies said it was “totally inappropriate that such a major piece of legislation should be a Private Members Bill – introduced by MPs who are not government ministers – and not a Government Bill”.

“I’m not prepared to nod through a Bill that is flawed and should be a Government Bill,” he said.

A spokesman for BT said “theft of copper phone and broadband cables had serious consequences for communities as well as being disruptive to business”.

“It can prevent villages from making vital calls to emergency services and can leave severely ill and infirm people disconnected and isolated,” he said.

“This Bill is a vital part of the solution to metal theft, which seriously inconveniences railway passengers and disrupts freight,” a spokesman for Network Rail said.

More thefts are happening all of the time due to the rising cost of metals growing since 2009.