Dealers' key role against theft

By Nick Dermody
BBC News website

The value of scrap metal has soared as demand worldwide has grown

With police across the UK clamping down on stolen metal, the question arises: how do thieves sell it?

In the first instance, they must go to the same place as anyone else who wants to make money from metal.

Which is why metal recyclers - many no longer want to be called scrap metal merchants - are in the front line of the fight against theft.

It is also why Gwent Police's Operation Steel checked the details of those arriving at recycling sites with metal.

It is part of a two-pronged strategy to tackle a UK crime industry worth £360m.

South Wales Police has carried out some 150 stop and search of vehicles transporting metal.

The tactic is to make life difficult for those determined to make a living from stealing items such as drain covers, lead from church roofs and railway signal cables.

As the value of scrap metal has soared - copper, for example, is now worth $8,564 a tonne (about £4,300), compared with less than $1,400 (about £710) in 2001- thieves have become more brazen in taking what they want.

Those running a legitimate business have got difficult decisions to make when someone brings in a quantify of metal - they have to take reasonable steps to make sure they are not taking in stolen metals Gwent Police Detective Inspector Peter Jones

Gwent Det Insp Peter Jones said a new tactic for thieves was cutting off a vehicle's catalytic converter in the hope of selling it, often via the internet, for perhaps £80, leaving the owner with a repair bill of perhaps £700.

But whether it is cabling from railway signals or boilers and radiators from construction sites, the stolen material still has to be sold.

That is why Gwent was one of 38 police forces working with transport, pensions and customs officials to track who was moving scrap metals.

Books inspected

The operation was also aimed at ensuring metal recyclers comply with trading legislation.

Det Insp Jones said the onus on dealers in metal to be sure they were not handling stolen goods was the same as a dealer in any other commodity - and to report any suspicions.

He said: "The vast majority of scrap dealers are carrying out legitimate business but there are those who are not.

"Those running a legitimate business have got difficult decisions to make when someone brings in a quantify of metal.

"They have to take reasonable steps to make sure they are not taking in stolen metals. Certainly they've got duty to record details for people to bring items in."

Metal recyclers can expect to have their books inspected by police and be able to show they have logged the names and vehicle registration of their customers.

One legitimate dealer who works on that basis is Mark Lloyd, who runs a metal recycling firm in Pontypool.

'Police checks'

He said he had seen the value of a scrapped car rise from nothing in recent years to up to £140 now. But he said he always took the vehicle registration details of his customers.

He said: "Most of our stuff is cars. We've had follow-ups where people have picked cars up where they haven't had permission.

"The police have followed them and and we've got all the details, which we record of people coming in.

"We have police doing checks all the time [to see] if people are bringing stolen metal here.

"The prices have escalated over the last four years, from very low to very high."

The British Metal Recycling Association (BMRA) said its 300 members - 10 registered in Wales - complied with 15 pieces of legislation, while illegal operators did not abide by the same laws.

Director general Lindsay Millington said: "Metal theft is a major problem and our industry is one of the main victims, we are experiencing regular thefts from our sites."

BMRA said approximately 60% of UK recycled metal is exported in a recycling industry worth £5bn a year.

It said: "Metal recovery is the UK's most successful recycling business providing over 15m tonnes per year of essential raw material for industry.

"Manufacturing can't function without metal and much of it is made from recovered scrap metal."