The next Bishop of Shrewsbury has used his first tour of the county to call for scrap metal dealers to be to be made to check where items being taken to them had come from.

Canon Mark Rylands made the call after visiting the Telford laboratories of the SmartWater company. His trip to Shropshire also included visits to Lee Farm near Hinstock and Shrewsbury School.

SmartWater is an invisible liquid that can be pain-ted onto valuables, includ- ing roofing lead, providing a unique forensic marking.

All Church of England churches have been supplied with SmartWater by their insurance group after a record-breaking spate of thefts from church roofs.

It provides police with evidence showing not just that metal has been stolen but even proving where the material was stolen from.

Canon Rylands, whose appointment as the next Bishop of Shrewsbury was announced yesterday, said: “When lead is stolen from church roofs it is sold on for a few pounds but the damage caused to our nation’s historic buildings often runs into tens of thousands of pounds.

“Scrap metal dealers should be responsible for checking all material they receive for SmartWater.

“If this was a condition of their licence they wouldn’t be able to hide behind an excuse of ‘received in good faith’ when stolen metal is detected by police undertaking routine checks.”

In Hinstock, Canon Rylan- ds met Julie Anandale and her son Stephen, and was briefed on issues concerning the farming community.