Highly visible thieves strip lead at homes

Metal thieves are posing as official workers wearing high-visibility jackets to strip lead from the front of Black Country homes, it emerged today.

Brazen crooks were seen targeting homes on the Allens Rough estate, New Invention, Walsall, and were chased by John Hutchinson, who saw them take lead from his father's house.

Mr Hutchinson, 59, saw two men in yellow jackets outside his 84-year-old father Tom's house in Dorchester Road at about 5.40am on Saturday. He saw they had removed lead from the top of a bay window.

As they stood on a window ledge and cut lead off he shouted at them and they fled carrying the lead.

Mr Hutchinson, recovering from heart surgery, pursued but had to give up.

"Metal theft is rife around here at the moment," said the Peugeot mechanic. "I had a walk around and counted nine homes which appeared to have had lead taken on the Allens Rough and Beacon estates."

His father said: "It is very stressful because now my lounge is going to be ruined if it keeps raining and my insurance will go up."

Kathleen Waterfield, 63, of Brook Hill Close, said an empty home two doors away was also hit over the weekend. Her own home was targeted for lead off the top of the bay window last year.

"I doubt the people who own it even know, but if they don't find out soon it will flood if we have any more rain," she said.

"They seem to be targeting the older people as well as though we are easy prey."

West Midlands Police today re-launched an operation to combat the increasing threat of metal theft occurring across the region.

Operation Steel, launched three years ago, was reinitiated with a day of action today. Police teams will visit scrap metal dealers and inspect premises looking for stolen vehicles and metal.

Operation leader, Chf Insp Angela Whitaker, said: "The action day marks the start of our assault on metal-related crime, our intention is to drive any increase back down."

Thieves have stripped metal from Barr Beacon War Memorial and the roof of Willenhall Leisure Centre, as well as taking copper railway signal cables.