Fifty drain covers stolen in area

More than 50 metal drain covers have been stolen in the last week from an area of Warwickshire.

The county council said the theft of the covers from the Rugby area was expected to cost it about £7,500.

Thieves stole 200 covers in the Rugby, Nuneaton and north Warwickshire areas last year, it added.

The council said it presumed the latest thefts were being carried out by people who were looking to sell the metal on as scrap.

Councillor Martin Heatley, the council's cabinet member with responsibility for highways, said there was a risk to motorists, particularly those travelling on two wheels.

He said: "It would be disastrous if anyone travelling at any speed hit the hole left following one of these thefts."