Lead stolen from church roofs to ship to China
By Jasper Copping, Sunday Telegraph
Police have warned of a bizarre crime wave sweeping Britain as thieves strip millions of pounds’ worth of metal off buildings to ship to China and other countries where demand is soaring.
Thousands of properties – including hundreds of churches and other historic buildings with lead roofs – have been targeted by organised gangs who sell the metal on to unscrupulous dealers.
It is then shipped overseas, either as scrap or after being melted down, to countries such as India, China and Dubai, which are struggling to find enough materials to keep their booming manufacturing and building industries supplied.
According to Ecclesiastical Insurance, which provides cover for most Church of England properties, lead thefts have trebled while copper thefts have multiplied by 10 since 2005. In the past 16 months they have received 750 claims, totalling £1.2 million.Chris Pitt, from the company, said: “These people have to be organised because of the amounts they are getting away with. These buildings will never be the same again once they’ve been stripped in this way.”
The gangs are also ripping lightning conductors from spires using towropes and vehicles and stealing bells.
Among the hundreds of churches targeted have been the 13th-century St Nicholas’s Church, in Great Kimble, Bucks, which suffered damage of more than £10,000, and St Mary’s Church, in Woolpit, Suffolk.
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