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Signalling cable thefts cost £3m | Signalling cable thefts cost £3m |
(about 5 hours later) | |
A big rise in the theft of copper cable from railways is causing delays and costing rail companies £3m, British Transport Police (BTP) say. | A big rise in the theft of copper cable from railways is causing delays and costing rail companies £3m, British Transport Police (BTP) say. |
There were almost 1,000 incidents of theft of signalling cable from warehouses or from along rail lines this year - a 50% rise on 2005. | There were almost 1,000 incidents of theft of signalling cable from warehouses or from along rail lines this year - a 50% rise on 2005. |
BTP Assistant Chief Constable Paul Robb said the thieves were "putting their own lives at risk". | BTP Assistant Chief Constable Paul Robb said the thieves were "putting their own lives at risk". |
The crime is most common in the north-east of England, police say. | The crime is most common in the north-east of England, police say. |
Delays | |
BBC business correspondent John Moylan said there was no threat to the public as a result of the thefts. | |
"People are ripping out the high voltage cabling which controls things like the communications system, the points and the signalling system. | |
"I'm told there's no threat to the public in all of this in as much as there are fail safe systems. | |
"Each time an incident happens it can cause delays for something like 10,000 passengers." | |
Fatalities | |
The BBC understands there have been two fatalities associated with copper theft from railway sub-stations and several people have been severely injured. | |
"The railway is not an environment where people should go," ACC Robb said. | "The railway is not an environment where people should go," ACC Robb said. |
"Some of the people have gone at night time, assuming that there aren't any trains - well of course there are, there are engineering trains." | |
He added there was a "great concern" people were risking their lives to steal copper and warned that the risk was not worth it. | |
Homes targeted | |
Copper thieves are not only targeting the rail network but also homes. | |
One victim, Charles Bull, woke to the smell of gas and found that thieves had stolen the pipes supplying his home. | |
He said: "I got up at a quarter past six in the morning and I realised that we'd got no gas in the house. | |
"I thought the boiler had gone off and after trying to re-light it I came out here and there was the sound of gas hissing out of the pipe. | |
"I looked down the side here and realised the gas pipe had been taken off the side of the house." |
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