Metal thieves stole 566 drain and manhole covers from one Black Country borough in just three years, new figures released today reveal.

The thefts cost Walsall Council £283,000 in repairs and replacements.

A report to the council reflects the problems faced by all local authorities in the West Midlands to cope with spiralling thefts of metal.

Gangs tackle their stolen goods to scrapyards across the region, where they are paid in cash. Walsall Council’s deputy leader councillor Adrian Andrew today called the thefts “despicable.”

He said hinged covers that are harder to steal are now being installed on new developments and as replacements.

He said: “These are despicable people who are putting lives at risk.

“It costs about £100 per incident and a permanent repair is around £500.

“We believe we have more than 34,000 we have responsibility for and there are many thousands more owned by utility companies.

“We are now using new technology to map out exactly where they all are and we aim to make safe any missing covers with an hour of them being reported.”