THIEVES are being warned against selling metal to help supplement their income in the runup to Christmas.
A week of action was held by British Transport Police after a new cashless system was introduced for anyone who sells scrap metal.
More than 380 officers across the region took part in the special operation, called Coastto- Coast, which specifically looked at how stolen metal is transported — taking in docks, trunk roads and metal recyclers.
Insp Dave Rams, who led the operation, said: “With new legislation making it much easier to trace thieves at the point of sale of stolen metal we switched our attention to the methods used to transport the material.
“This was a huge undertaking and we worked closely with several industries as well as agencies such as HMRC, the Environment Agency, Network Rail and UK Border Force to build a clear intelligence picture of how stolen metal is moved on.”
North West officers visited 150 scrap metal recycling yards and stopped 2,300 vehicles.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article