Scrap metal dealers to be banned from making cash payments to tackle 'epidemic' of thefts

By NAZIA PARVEEN
UPDATED: 07:37 GMT, 25 January 2012
 

Scrap dealers are to be banned from making cash payments to tackle the national ‘epidemic’ of metal theft, it was reported last night.

Under the new laws all cash transactions will be banned and there will be unlimited fines for people caught trading the metal.

It is hoped this would create a paper trail making it easier to track down thieves once they try to sell on the stolen scrap metal.

The new measures are expected to come into force by April through a new clause in the Legal Aid Bill, which is currently before MPs, it is believed.

Sculptures, war memorials and rail cables have all been targeted by thieves, driven by soaring prices for metals.

A £500,000 Dame Barbara Hepworth bronze sculpture from Dulwich Park was stolen in December causing public outrage.

Metal dealers are likely to face strict requirements to check and record the identity of people touting scrap — and may be closed down if they fail.

During his Autumn Statement, Chancellor George Osborne, pledged to invest £5 million in a new nationwide taskforce to target metal thieves and scrap metal dealers who illegally trade in stolen metal.

Police believe metal theft is costing the country up to £1 billion a year, with up to 10,000 cases every week. 

Last year there were 705 thefts on London’s rail and Underground — a rise of 70 per cent, fuelled by copper prices doubling in two years to more than £5,000 a tonne.

Police say a memorial is stripped every week in London. Energy firms report 700 thefts a week from substations and pylons.

Six people died and 50 were seriously injured hacking at live cables this year. The crimes cost the energy sector an estimated £60 million a year.

Cited: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2091418/Scrap-metal-dealers-banned-making-cash-payment-tackle-epidemic-thefts.html
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