"Bastette" wrote in message
...
Christina Websell wrote:

We did have a bit of problem a while ago, someone got a bicycle stolen
from
their yard and another got their hub caps stolen from their car outside
on
the street.
I hate to admit this (stereotyping) but I always suspected the scrap
dealers
that were up here twice a week with their vans. Since they now have to
be
licensed to do this and cannot take stuff to a scrapyard to get a cash
payment, they don't come any more and nothing metal has gone missing. I
lost my wrought iron side gate when I was in hospital.
The law was brought in after so many buildings (churches, especially)
were
being stripped of the lead on their roof.
Now, the scrapyards can only pay you by cheque, which has had a
brilliant
effect on opportunistic metal thieves here as has the licensing law.
Now,
if they steal it, they can't get rid of it as the scrapyards get regular
visits from the enforcement agency and if they can't account for where
it
came from with paperwork, they will get a massive fine. Seems to be
working
quite well ;-)

There's a similar problem over here with copper theft. People steal
plumbing
from buildings (pipes newer than a certain time are made of copper). I
wish
they'd try something like that here.

Maybe you should suggest it to the powers that be ;-)
It's been a spectacular success here although it only came into force quite
recently
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/s...ome-into-force

Tweed