Police figures show a decrease in the number of metal theft offences in Hertfordshire

There has been decrease in the number of recorded metal theft offences in Hertfordshire, new figures show.

Home Office data shows Hertfordshire Constabulary recorded 1,040 metal thefts in the year to March – a decrease from 1,073 the year before.

Of those, 320 were non-infrastructure related, including the removal of war memorial plaques and scrap metal theft.

The remaining 720 were infrastructure-related, including roofing lead, electricity or railway cables and vehicle parts.

The British Metal Recycling Association warned true figures may be far greater than those reported, as metal prices increase and people face more economic difficulties.

Spokesperson Antonia Grey said: “Over the years, the type of theft shifted from low-value, low-volume thefts to high-value, high-volume thefts such as entire lead roofs.

“In the face of recession and economic difficulties, it’s likely the true numbers of metal thefts are far greater than those published by the Office of National Statistics, which does not report all metal theft incidents.”

The reported figures give the areas covered by Hertfordshire Constabulary a rate of 8.7 thefts per 10,000 people – higher than the average of 4.9 for England and Wales.

Although there were fewer metal theft offences across England and Wales in 2022-23 than in the previous year, numbers have risen in the last two years.

Mark Cleland, superintendent at the British Transport Police said: “Metal theft can have a huge effect for all communities, not least for the rail network.

“This year we’ve run numerous weeks of intensification across the UK to target metal crime and formed the national infrastructure crime reduction partnership which involves working with numerous industry and enforcement partners to prevent metal theft and pursue offenders.”

Ms Grey explained police budget cuts had led to difficulty with enforcing the Scrap Metal Dealer Act 2013, meaning operators are not renewing their scrap metal dealer licences.

A Home Office spokesperson said police forces had made progress in crime prevention, with offences like burglary, robbery and vehicle theft halved since 2010.

They added: “We provided funding to set up the National Infrastructure Crime Reduction Partnership which supports policing and law enforcement partners to tackle metal theft by sharing intelligence and implementing crime prevention measures.”