Scrap metal cash payments banned
Simon Ripley is a director of recycling company H Ripley & Co in Sussex and Kent:
“The legislation is not going to change very much – unscrupulous people have been buying stolen metal for years and will continue to do so.
What really needs to happen is for police to have more resources to investigate thefts.
We already take names, addresses and car registration details, sometimes photo ID too.
Sussex Police and BTP inspect our yards regularly and will ask if we have been offered particular stolen items.
If something is clearly stolen – we were once offered a castle’s cannon – we contact police and have helped secure five successful prosecutions in the last four years.
Tradesmen who bring us metal work with cash for convenience. But we are already ready with alternatives to help our suppliers when the change happens.
A great deal of theft happens from scrap yards themselves.
We think this is all about raising revenue for the tax man.”
