A spate of drain cover thefts cost taxpayers £4,000

At least 22 drain covers have been stolen across Shrewsbury over the past week – costing over £4,000 to replace.

Councillor Simon Jones, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member 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.

“Also, at £195 per tonne, this would make each gully grid only worth about £3.90 on the scrap metal market.  However, it costs us a minimum of £180 to replace each one 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.”

If anyone notices anything suspicious or sees a missing drain cover, people 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.

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