Metal thieves who tried to steal up to £170,000 worth of copper from a Black Country firm using an overhead crane have been sentenced to up to four years behind bars.

The four-strong gang, which included three men from Bilston, broke into All Alloy Slitting Services in Oldbury after removing a large metal skip protecting the compound and hot-wired a forklift truck, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told. In the dock were Craig Howell, aged 27, of Carder Crescent, Bilston; Scott Louden, 29, of Brueton Road, Lunt Estate, and Kyle Morris-Jones, 20, of Walter Road, Bradley.

They all admitted attempted burglary and were locked up for four years. Timothy Smith, 27, of Atcham Close, Redditch, also pleaded guilty and was jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Smethwick-based Detective Chief Inspector Danny Long, from Operation Steel, the taskforce set up to crack down on spiralling metal theft, today said it was a “terrific result”.

The court heard yesterday how the gang struck over the May bank holiday weekend. They hot-wired a forklift truck to move the copper around the yard and used an overhead crane to load three skips they had brought onto the yard.

Mr Walter Bealby, prosecuting, said they also ransacked the office and caused £1,200 worth of damage.

They had been on site for around 90 minutes when a resident beame suspicious and rang the police. The men fled but were discovered by a police sniffer dog hiding beneath the floor of a derelict building nearby.

At the metal processing plant, officers found 45 tons of copper loaded into the skips and covered with rubbish. Another six tons of metal was found on the ground, said Mr Bealby. Recorder Melbourne Inman rejected as “absurd” the suggestion by defence lawyers they had gone into the plant on the spur of the moment.