People encouraged to watch out for drain cover thefts

Shropshire Council and the police are encouraging residents to watch out for anything suspicious following a spate of drain cover thefts in and around Shrewsbury over the Christmas and New Year period.

Around 30 drain covers have been stolen across the town – costing over £5,000 to replace.

Councillor Simon Jones, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member with responsibility for transport, said:

“Not only expensive to replace, missing covers also present a real danger to road users.  Uncovered drains could easily lead to a fatality of a cyclist or motorcyclist and cause serious damage to cars and lorries.

“It costs us a minimum of £180 to replace each cover and, as most are emergency replacements, they normally cost us more than that.

“This irresponsible opportunism is costing us all money and putting lives at risk – it’s simply not acceptable.”

A West Mercia Police spokesperson, said:

“These thefts create an extremely dangerous hazard to passing motorists and to other members of the public.

“We urge members of the public to call the police on the 101 non-emergency number immediately they see people tampering with roadside drains or their covers.

“This will enable us to make a quick check on the people involved.  If they turn out to be genuine highways staff, it does not matter.  We just need information to assist in detecting those responsible.”

If anyone notices anything suspicious or sees a missing drain cover, they should take down as many details as they can and report it to the council by calling 0345 678 9006, emailing customer.service@shropshire.gov.uk or reporting it online.  Information can also be given to the anonymous Crimestoppers independent charity by calling 0800 555 111.

As well as asking people to watch out for anything suspicious, the council is using hinged covers to replace the missing ones making them harder to remove in future.

These thefts are taken very seriously and each one is reported to the police.