Metal thefts falling in Shropshire as clampdown hits

Police say the figures, which show two thirds of incidents took place in Shropshire, are falling and work is ongoing to clamp down on metal dealers.

Figures released as part of a Freedom of Information request published on the force's website show West Mercia Police dealt with a total of 642 metal thefts in Shropshire since 2012. A further 382 were dealt with in Telford & Wrekin.

Inspector Rob Thomas, safer neighbourhood team inspector in Shropshire, said: "West Mercia Police targets offenders and works to reduce metal theft crime across the region.

"The nature of this crime often targets homes, businesses, churches, schools and sub-stations, causing disruption to services and an impact to the local community – not to mention the cost of repairs.

"Recent legislation has assisted police in that those who collect metal door to door need to be registered with their local council.

"Regular checks are made on scrap metal dealers and roadside checks with council partners from trading standards and public protection are set to check those carrying scrap metal."

Police put metal thefts into two categories – infrastructure related and non infrastructure.

Those that have a direct impact on functioning of a building or machinery are categorised as infrastructure related and could include those connected to water, heating, electricity, roofing lead and cabling.

In Shropshire there were a total of 126 of this type, and 113 in Telford.

Those that have no impact on infrastructure often include redundant material, metal gates and fencing.

Over the four years in Shropshire there were 516 offences of this type and 279 in Telford.

Overall in the policing area which includes Herefordshire and Worcestershire, figures fell from a peak of 997 incidents in 2013-14, to a low of 489 in 2015-16.

Inspector Thomas said: "Recently two men were arrested after the community alerted us to their suspicious behaviour late at night in the Tong area. Police got to the premises as soon as they could and recovered property that we suspect had been taken from the church. Inquiries continue into this incident.

"We welcome the results that show an overall downward trend in the number of metal theft incidents reported to us between 2012 and 2016 and would like to remind the public of measures that can be taken to try and prevent metal theft.

"There are a raft of measures that can be employed to protect your property – in short please ensure property is kept locked away out of sight and keep the area well lit and if possible use CCTV with PIR sensors."

For more information visit www.westmercia.police.uk/article/1960/Metal-theft