Metal theft has fallen by a third in the past year, after new measures were introduced to help councils tackle the crime.
Figures show metal thefts in England and Wales in 2013/14 dropped to 40,680 from 59,788 in the previous year. The Scrap Metal Dealers Act was introduced in October 2013 to give councils the power to refuse or revoke licences and shut down rogue dealers.
The Local Government Association (LGA) said councils have issued nearly 8,000 licences to scrap metal dealers since the Act came into force, and have worked with the police to prosecute unlicensed traders.
Cllr Ann Lucas OBE, chair of the LGA’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board, said: ‘Such a significant drop in metal thefts is excellent news for communities who have suffered from the chaos, disruption and heartache caused by unscrupulous metal thieves.
‘Councils were long-calling for new laws to help them regulate the scrap metal industry in order to make it more difficult for thieves to flog their stolen goods to scrap yards.’
The figures show infrastructure-related metal thefts dropped by 41% in the past year, with the south-east region seeing the biggest fall of 46%.
