Church faces £250,000 repair bill

Now police in Barnsley are setting up a “scrapwatch” scheme to try to track down the criminals who are trading in stolen metal.

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of metal thefts in the Barnsley area over recent months, with churches, schools and homes being blighted by thieves stealing lead flashing from roofs and around windows.

A piece of lead around one metre square was taken from a corner of the roof at the 1,000-year-old Grade I listed All Saint’s Parish Church in Darfield in June, just before the floods which engulfed the area. That lead to a torrent of water pouring through the 350-year-old painted ceiling and onto the vintage church organ which has led to the massive quarter-of-a-million pound repair bill.

Rector, the Rev Neil Redeyoff, said: “It is unbelievable that all this damage has been caused all for the sake of a piece of lead worth just 10.”

Lead thieves have also struck at Penistone St John’s Parish Church over recent days causing thousands of pounds’ worth of damage.

Police hope the new scheme, similar to Pubwatch, which will see them working with local scrap metal dealers to ensure anyone taking in scrap gives personal identification details, will help them crack down on the thieves.

Inspector Paula McCullan said scrap metal dealers were legitimate businesses but warned police will crack down hard on anyone found the flouting the law.

Insp McCullan said: “Anecdotally, there are people going to scrapyards with wheelie bins full of scrap which is clearly not legitimate.

“We are looking to arrest the thieves and will also prosecute those found handling stolen goods. There is a worldwide shortage of non-ferrous metal and prices have rocketed.”