Council appeal over stolen drain covers

Lincolnshire County Council wants anybody who spots a missing drain cover to report it

There has been an increase in thefts of drain covers in Lincolnshire, according to a councillor.

The county council has asked anybody who spots a missing cover to report it via its website.

Councillor Wendy Bowkett said: “Unfortunately, there seems to be an increase in stealing drain covers again."

She said a delay in repairs was because "there have been so many again recently.”

The call comes after concerns were raised by one user in a Skegness social media group.

She claimed to have reported an open drain, only for the council to reply that it had been repaired by placing an orange cone over the top.

The council acknowledged it was a mistake by one of its crews when responding to the report.

Multiple county councillors responded to the Facebook post, with one saying the drain would have been left like that while awaiting the replacement part.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the council does not have any statistics on the thefts but noted there have been times in the past when many covers went missing at once.

Councillor Richard Davies, executive member for highways, said: “Taking any sort of ironworks from a road or path is theft, but the worst part of it is the immediate problem of a big hole for road users or pedestrians to have to navigate."

“Thankfully, this sort of thing isn’t that common, but it does happen, and I would ask anyone who comes across any sort of cover missing in either the road or path to please let us know as quickly as possible."

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