A REVOLUTIONARY security marker will be launched next week to help combat the increasing number of thefts from building sites - a crime which throughout Britain costs a staggering £1 billion a year.

The marking device is intended to prevent the theft of machinery from sites all over Greater Manchester.

The Alphadot system will be unveiled at a seminar organised by Greater Manchester police chiefs.

The theft of site machinery is now one of the fastest growing crimes in the country. Equipment worth up to £3 million was stolen in the county during the last six months of last year. Portable saws, worth up to £5,500, and excavators are the most common items stolen.

The marking device puts a series of micro dots on to plant machinery. The dots contain the post-code of the equipment's owners and is designed to help assist the police in the case of its theft. The dots are stored in a small phial and are brushed on to mostly hidden parts of the equipment.

Each contains about 1,000 dots which are almost impossible to remove and extremely difficult for a thief to detect.

The seminar, hosted by Chief Constable David Wilmot, will be held at GMP's Hough End Centre, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, next Tuesday.

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