Scrap crackdown leads to arrests

Police in Lincolnshire are working with scrap metal dealers to reduce the number of metal thefts.

The continued rise in the prices of metals like lead and copper has led to a spate of burglaries across the UK.

In the Lincoln area there were more than 500 incidents of lead being stolen last year, with more than 1,300 cases of metal thefts in the entire county.

The system, where officers and dealers swap news on suspicious activity, led to four arrests last week.

Crime increase

Pc Rizwaan Chothia, Park Ward community beat manager, said the arrests in Lincoln were a direct result of the co-operation between the dealers and the police.

"We have seen a decrease in the last two weeks in the number of metal thefts.

"There has also been a massive decrease in the number of suspicious people approaching dealers trying to sell lead and copper," he said.

An existing partnership was relaunched because police had noticed an increase in the number of vacant properties being broken into.