The theft of drain covers in Walsall is escalating with West Midlands Police now reporting 342 thefts already this year.
The cost of these thefts to the public purse is reported to be £110,800, which could have been used for other vital services.
Consequently, Walsall Council is urging residents to be on the lookout for drain thefts and report them, or come forward with any images or videos that may help catch the perpetrators.
It’s believed that the missing drain covers are being sold to scrap dealers and Walsall Council says it will come down hard on anyone involved in purchasing the metal.
Walsall Residents Asked To Be Vigilant
Councillor Mike Bird, Leader of Walsall Council said:
“That’s a significant amount of public money that we’d rather spend on our looked after children and caring for our most vulnerable residents, rather than fixing things after criminals have left our highways in a dangerous condition.
“If residents see this criminal activity in progress, I would ask them to consider their own safety and not attempt to intervene, but report any information they have to West Midlands police via https://west-midlands.police.uk/incident-report and also to Walsall Council via roadworksmanagement@walsall.gov.uk. Any footage from doorbell cameras is particularly welcomed. If we can find them and recover costs from them, we will. We will also come down heavily on scrap dealers who allow these to be ‘weighed in’, as a drain cover’s purpose is patently obvious.
Councillor Bird also explains that the exercise of replacing the drain covers is more complicated and costly than people might expect.
Replacing Drain Covers Isn’t That Simple
“We have around 37,825 gully covers across the borough, of varying ages, designs and sizes. This means there isn’t a handy stockpile of covers in the yard which can be quickly fitted, so our contractor Tarmac has to ‘plate’ the missing covers while replacements are organised to ensure the safety of highway users.
“We’re not just replacing like for like though. Our approach is to do a more thorough job and install covers in such a way that it will make it very much more difficult for these criminals to get their hands on their ill-gotten gains. It does cost more, but it’s investment for the future.
“I can understand people may think it’s just a 10 minute job, but it isn’t and certainly not if we want to future-proof. When we walk, drive or cycle, we only see the surface, but there’s a lot of engineering underground.
“I’d like to place on the record my thanks to our highways teams for their vigilance and also to Tarmac for their responsiveness; they work closely together to keep us all safe.”