Scrap metal thieves target churches

Thieves are stripping churches of valuable metals at the rate of more than one church a day to cash in on scrap prices kept high by heavy demand from China.

Ecclesiastical Insurance has received 500 claims in the past 14 months, totalling £750,000. Many are for repeated thefts from the same churches.

Since 2005, thefts of lead have trebled and copper thefts have multiplied by 10, Ecclesiastical said.

Criminals have stripped entire church roofs, stolen bells, and ripped lightning conductors from spires by tying them to trucks and driving away, wrecking historic masonry.

Recycling firms pay about £900 a tonne for lead and £2,700 a tonne for copper.

Small-time criminals have been stealing lead from church roofs for years, but recent highs in scrap metal prices has caused an explosion in thefts, said Chris Pitt, of Ecclesiastical.

"We've seen a marked worsening in the situation in the past year. These aren't opportunists doing this - we had a three-tonne bell taken from outside a church.

"If they've stolen £2,000-worth of lead, that can have caused £50,000-worth of damage to the church," Mr Pitt said.

Current hotspots include London, Bristol, the West Midlands and Sheffield.

Inspector Stuart Edwards, of South Yorkshire Police, said: "Between April 2006 and April 2007 we've had in the order of 20 attacks on churches. The crux of the matter is that thieves pay no heed to what type of premises it is.

"The problem with churches is that they're often isolated so we don't get people regularly reporting suspicious events to us. If we get a couple of prosecutions under our belts, it'll act as a deterrent.

"There's a message to get out to the scrap metal dealers themselves, to be mindful of people coming on to their premises wanting to sell what's quite clearly lead flashing, who clearly aren't tradespeople or regular customers."

Ecclesiastical's largest metal theft claim was for £40,000, Mr Pitt said, although most were between £2,000 and £4,000. But many churches were hit repeatedly, leading to mounting costs.

Thieves struck at All Saints Church in Heath Town, Wolverhampton, three times in May, stealing lead flashing, the lightning conductor and ladders. Because it was under renovation at the time, the church's insurance was affected and it must cover the cost - expected to be a five-figure sum - itself.

In October last year, thieves attached the lightning conductor of All Saints Church, Little Staughton, Bedfordshire, to their vehicle and drove away. They also brought down the top eight feet of the spire, which destroyed a gargoyle on its way down. Repairs will cost £36,000.

In another remarkable theft, a bell was taken from a church in Eastfield, Northamptonshire.

Mr Pitt said: "Lead is on parts of the church that are inaccessible and hard to see, so what people notice first is often indentations in the grass after they've rolled up the lead and thrown it off the roof. Sometimes no one realises until the roof starts leaking."

The highest-profile recent theft believed to be linked to scrap metal was that of a two-tonne Henry Moore sculpture stolen in December 2005. It has never been found.