Gang steal Severn Valley Railway copper

A reward of £5,000 is being offered after up to £70,000 of copper was stolen from the Severn Valley Railway.

Police said the thieves staged an "audacious" raid by apparently breaking in at night and hot-wiring a crane to take the metal from the boiler works.

The six tonnes of copper were stolen from the Bridgnorth site last week, West Mercia Police said.

The offenders made an unsuccessful attempt to break in 24-hours earlier but returned, a police spokesman said.

Police said they broke in through an air vent after disabling a security alarm and then hot-wired the 30-tonne capacity crane to lift 11 copper sheets into a van or lorry they had reversed into the building.