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A crackdown on the sale of stolen metal in England and Wales has driven the illegal trade overseas, victims told MPs this week.
While tighter regulations on scrap metal dealing introduced last year have helped reduce the problem, they have not stopped criminal gangs exporting stolen metal, industry representatives said.
It is a significant problem for energy networks and water companies, as well as the telecoms sector and brewers. Copper wires, manhole covers and beer kegs are common targets for thieves. In the case of raids on electrical substations or water treatment works, this can have dangerous consequences.
Discussing the problem at an all-party Parliamentary group, Simon Davis of BT said there were “sophisticated operations” stealing copper cables and shipping them overseas, where they became difficult to track.
Tony Glover, policy director at the Energy Networks Association, highlighted an increase in metal trading across the Scottish border, which is presumed to include stolen goods. Scotland is due to bring its legislation in line with the rest of the UK, but not until after its referendum on independence later this year.
Representatives from the UK Border Agency said it is difficult to intercept stolen goods at the border.
The UK’s main port at Felixstowe handles three million containers a year, 80 per cent of the country’s shipping exports. That makes wholesale inspection of containers “impossible”, according to the meeting note, raising the importance of intelligence gathering to target suspicious activity.
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