Rising theft of metal costing millions Rising theft of metal costing millions Metal theft costing more money
As more and more metal thefts occur it is costing companies more and more money and it will soon come to a bitter point where everything will carry on increasing in price and there will be valid reasons for it.
Crimestoppers regional manager Dave Hunter said: “I wouldn’t be surprised if the figure for that area exceeded £2 million and this is why we are encouraging the public to ring Crimestoppers anonymously.
“It can be devastating – even if you are looking at the low-level stuff, things like stealing grates have huge replacement costs.”
Peter Ramsay, the company’s security and emergency planning manager, said: “Metal theft is a serious issue for us and we’re trialling a number of new initiatives, including using fibreglass manhole covers, in our ongoing efforts to reduce it.
“The problem ranges from the opportunist theft of one of our sewer or hydrant covers, to the organised theft of hundreds of metres of cable or copper pipe, and even larger appliances such as lifting equipment and generators, with thieves targeting any metals which they consider of value, often risking their lives, and those of others, in the process.”
A Network Rail spokesman said: “Every day hundreds of passengers and essential freight deliveries are being disrupted and delayed by metal cable thieves.
“We are doing all we can to protect the network, investing about £2 million each year to fund extra British Transport Police officers, using CCTV, forensic marking techniques and other technology. To an extent our actions can help us manage the crimes – but we believe the only way to significantly reduce metal crime is to take away the illegal market.”
Meanwhile, the Diocese of Bradford has said thefts of metal from churches across the diocese over the last year has incurred costs of tens of thousands of pounds.
A spokesman said: “The figures are being collated centrally by the Churches Building Council, and while we don’t yet have precise figures for the Bradford Diocese the final sum for the last year may well be in the tens of thousands of pounds.”
