THE theft of worthwhile metals has risen to alarming levels, at a value to the UK economy of greater than £4.3 billion over the past ten years, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Metal, Stone and Heritage has revealed.
Church roofs are particularly vulnerable. During the identical period, thefts of lead increased by eight per cent, from 5947 to 6446.
In the group’s latest report, Tackling Metal Theft — for which evidence was given by Church of England officials and professionals within the metals and infrastructure sector — organised-crime groups are listed as being liable for most thefts of catalytic converters, copper, and lead, that are then sold on unlawfully.
Examples of church vandalism and crime within the report include worshippers’ being “left fearful when their place of worship had its lead roof torn off; one other had a 500-year-old silver chalice stolen”. Elsewhere, “mourners needed to cope with the heartbreak of bronze plaques that commemorated family members being ripped out and stolen.”
The Second Church Estates Commissioner, Andrew Selous MP, who chairs the APPG, said: “The quite a few applications of metals make them worthwhile, yet their value makes them attractive to steal. As Second Church Estates Commissioner, I often hear reports of a few of our most cherished churches having had the lead stripped off their roofs.”
The report says that, “in 2018, 20 tonnes of lead were taken from a church in Bedfordshire by thieves posing as tradesmen.”
Uninsured losses have to be met locally by PCCs and the community. St Andrew’s, Little Massingham, continues to be trying to switch the lead stolen from its roof almost six years ago. Through a series of local events, the community has raised £14,000 towards a goal of £150,000.
In December, the National Churches Trust (NCT) distributed grants valued at £1.4 million to churches across the country where lead had been stolen from roofs (News, 8 December 2023) and others in need of urgent repairs.
MPs have found that the variety of successful prosecutions isn’t keeping track with the size of the crimes. They have now called on the Home Office to take motion. The MPs’ ten recommendations include a latest working group and higher enforcement of the Scrap Metal Dealer Act.
The Act, passed in 2013, was strongly supported by Lord Chartres, then Bishop of London, who wrote to all MPs asking them to back the laws and provides “help and hope. . . to communities whose local memorials and places of worship proceed to be targeted by metal thieves” (News, 16 November 2012). Lord Chartres is a Vice-Chair of the APPG on Metal, Stone, and Heritage Crime, and last yr became a Vice-President of the NCT.
