More than £4,000 of damage was caused by metal thieves who ripped 40 metres of copper cabling, worth just £300, from a generator plunging a council building into darkness.

The council today revealed it was investing thousands into a new system which would mean the cables will travel underground, making them more difficult to target.

The housing office, in a bungalow annexe to the main council building in Beecroft Road, Cannock, has been closed since Monday and was expected to reopen either tomorrow or Monday.

Engineers worked through the night to get a new generator up and running.

Council spokesman Jamie Summerfield said: “We are making it a lot more secure in the wake of this theft. We are putting some of it underground to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

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