Warning after more than 300 Walsall drain covers stolen

More than 20 drain covers were taken on one day in July, Walsall Council said.

More than 300 drain covers have been stolen in a West Midlands market town costing taxpayers more than £100,000 to replace.

Walsall Council said 342 covers had been stolen, with 28 taken on 20 July alone.

It said it had spent £110,800 this year replacing the metal covers, which feed rainwater into the public sewer system.

Council leader Mike Bird has urged people who see thefts in progress to report them to West Midlands Police.

Mr Bird said the money spent on replacing the covers would be better used 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".

"The monetary issue of course is important but the threat to life is even worse," he said.

"You can just imagine somebody on a bicycle... or even a young child, walking in the road and all of a sudden they disappear down the drain."

He said each time a gully cover was taken, the authority was working to install the replacements in a way "that it will make it very much more difficult for these criminals to get their hands on their ill-gotten gains".