Police crackdown on metal theft

POLICE at Warrington are working with forces across the North West to combat the increasing problem of metal theft.
Operation Tornado, spearheaded by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the British Transport Police, will aim to make it easier to trace sellers of stolen metal through an identification scheme.
From now on, anyone selling scrap metal to participating dealers in the region will be required to provide proof of their identity – either a photo card driving licence including an address, a passport or national ID card supported by a utility bill, which must be under three months old and show their address.
Chief Inspector Darren Hebden from Cheshire Police said “The ongoing policing operation to combat metal theft has already met with success in Cheshire and led to a significant number of prosecutions.
“By having the co-operation of scrap dealers as part of Operation Tornado we are effectively disrupting and deterring those criminals who approach dealers with stolen metal to make a quick profit. We hope the introduction of these measures will restrict the sale and movement of stolen metal. It has been designed not to inhibit those dealers that operate lawfully, but to remove unscrupulous dealers who operate outside the law.”
Ian Hetherington, director general at the British Metals Recycling Association, said: “Metals theft is a real problem for the metals industry and BMRA continues to advise government on the issue.
“It’s important to note that many of the problems encountered by legitimate metal recyclers lie with the ineffective enforcement of existing regulations and the proliferation of the illegal, unregulated trade, and not with the majority who operate highly regulated, licensed and permitted sites.”
Metal thieves have caused misery for countless thousands of people across the country and the railway has experienced significant issues for some time, but throughout last year criminals have been diversifying and targeting metal from other areas, including power cables, utilities pipe work, telecommunications cabling, residential properties, businesses and catalytic converters from vehicles.
Ten people have also died in the past year as a result of metal theft.