Lincolnshire metal theft crackdown sees 60 arrests

More than 60 arrests have been made this year as part of a crackdown on metal thefts in Lincolnshire.

Operation Brompton was started by the police in 2011, mainly in response to attacks on churches.

As well as arrests, officers said large quantities of metal had been recovered and, where possible, returned.

They added that closer cooperation with scrap dealers and greater awareness among the public had made it more difficult to escape undetected.

Identification checks

In the most recent incident, on 22nd April, two men were arrested and lead recovered after a member of the public reported a theft from St Peter's Church in Saltfleetby.

Other cases include a Grimsby man who was jailed in April after large amounts of stolen lead were found at his house.

In February four men were charged with conspiring to steal lead from more than 20 churches.

Sgt Marc Gee said: "We are seeing the number incidents coming down because it is harder for thieves to take metal into dealers.

"More checks on identification, thanks to working with British Transport Police's Operation Tornado, is really having an effect."