£5m haul of metal thieves

Police claim that not only are gangs from outside the region ripping lead and copper from buildings and stealing bulk quantities from businesses, but even children are taking advantage of high demand for metal.

A 10-year-old boy was arrested in Sheffield for stealing metal flashing and window frame lead from homes.

Det Supt Andy Parker, responsible for intelligence and crime management in Sheffield, said the boy was among a growing number of people making money from the global hike in the value of scrap, triggered by demand from manufacturing industries in the Far East.

Police are trying to establish who bought the boy's stolen metal to determine whether he was alone or part of a gang. He received a youth caution.

Latest figures, for a year to the end of March, show metal worth 5.1m went missing – more than double the 2.3m amount stolen the year before.

Police predict thefts will continue to rise for as long as the price of scrap remains high. In May alone 30 South Yorkshire churches were attacked, with criminals scaling the roof to steal copper lightning conductors.

Det Supt Parker said: "Some countries and industries can't get enough metal at the moment and recycling it is much easier and quicker than creating it from scratch. The value of scrap per tonne has gone from around 650 to more than 900."

"Churches have been particularly hard hit because they are unoccupied, as are other buildings in remote areas where there isn't anyone to report any suspicious behaviour, so we are urging people to step up security.

"These people don't work alone. It would be a lot of effort for one person to strip a building of all its metal, so they tend to work in gangs and they have transport to get away quickly.

"The gangs also have some knowledge of the building trade because they know exactly what they are looking for and what to do."

Police operations are checking scrap dealers' paperwork. Road policing officers are checking vehicles, and consignments of metal at wholesale premises are being security-coded.