Blitz on copper thieves
A Telford company is at the forefront of a battle to combat a hike in the number of copper thefts across the country.
The rise in the worldwide price of copper has sparked a huge demand for the metal and led to a dramatic increase in the number of copper-related thefts in Britain.
Now not only is Telford firm SmartWater helping police forces through its property-marking scheme but its crime reduction strategy is also being used by a leading electricity supplier.
SmartWater has created a range of products to combat crime, including the SmartWater Tracer and Instant which gives property a unique forensic fingerprint, almost invisible to the naked eye, which fluoresces under ultraviolet light.
Gas pipes, earthing cable, even copper statues have all been targeted by organised thieves for the sake of their scrap value, causing untold damage and inconvenience.
Even the London Underground has been targeted, with crooks stealing copper cable used for rail signals, causing serious delays for thousands of commuters.
And the Nedge Hill-based company has now been brought in by electricity suppliers CE Electric UK to protect substations and similar premises from victimisation.
CE Electric UK delivers electricity to over 3.7 million homes across the North East of England, Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire.
SmartWater chief executive Phil Cleary said: "Determined criminals are smashing doors, taking down fencing and even removing bricks from walls to steal copper from substation sites, which can each provide power to over 30,000 homes and businesses.
"More importantly, thieves are risking lives by leaving sites open after break-ins and exposing potentially fatal high-voltage equipment.
"Copper cable within substations is now being coated with SmartWater, which contains a unique forensic code that provides irrefutable batch identification and absolute proof of ownership - similar to the process of DNA profiling.
"SmartWater can withstand a range of intense operating conditions making it virtually impossible to remove.
"Criminals fear SmartWater because police forces across the UK are actively searching for it, greatly increasing the chances of detection, arrest and subsequent conviction."
Elsewhere, police in South Yorkshire have been covertly using SmartWater as part of Operation Apparent to catch professional gangs targeting copper piping and cylinders from unused properties.
Following a series of thefts in which SmartWatered copper cylinders were stolen, police checks were carried out at all scrap metal dealers in Doncaster and its surrounding areas.
Two cylinders were subsequently recovered and identified as stolen using the SmartWater system. It appeared that the criminals had tried to scrape off the incriminating SmartWater but even the debris left behind on the ground was identifiable. The gang members were arrested and later charged.
Mr Cleary said: "Police forces around the country now routinely check property for traces of SmartWater and this is acting as a powerful warning to the criminal fraternity.
"Thieves and burglars are increasingly becoming aware that if they target SmartWater-protected property they will be caught."
