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BT joins Met in cable theft crackdown

BT and the Met are going to clamp down on metal thieves, who are causing £700 million-worth of damage each year.

By Tom Brewster, 20 Dec 2011 at 14:56

Telco behemoth BT has hooked up with the Metropolitan Police to create a special metal theft taskforce.

The Waste and Metal Theft Taskforce includes experts from BT will be based in Bexley, one borough badly affected by the menace that is metal theft.

“Our latest operation aimed to identify, disrupt and deter those involved in this illegal trade, and acted as an important intelligence-gathering exercise for future operations so that we can target those evading the law and those who supply them even more effectively," said Chief Superintendent David Chinchen.

Our latest operation aimed to identify, disrupt and deter those involved in this illegal trade.

"We are keen to work with legitimate scrap metal dealers, but those who aren’t can expect to see regular enforcement. These crimes are covered by a complex range of laws, thus a multi-pronged approach is essential in order to tackle it robustly and we are already working closely with our partner agencies."

Criminals have been busy thieving all kinds of metal objects, from cables to memorial plaques.

They don't just cause financial damage – costing the UK economy an estimated £700 million a year – they are also responsible for wide-scale internet outages affecting hundreds of homes and businesses.

In 2009, Bexley was the scene of a particularly bad hit, when 94,000 people had their power disabled after thieves hit a supply facility near Dartford.

September 2011 saw four men arrested after they posed as BT workers to steal underground cable and it is believed the same group is responsible for many other disruptions across London and Essex.