Ecclesiastical renews metal theft alert

Ecclesiastical has renewed its warning that many of Britain’s churches and buildings are being systematically targeted by criminals for their valuable metal.

Speaking on national Metal Theft Day of Action, Ecclesiastical’s claims and risk services director David Bonehill stressed that up to four churches each day are being damaged by metal thieves plus an increasing number of non-faith buildings such as schools.

Bonehill said: “Metal Theft Day of Action is an excellent way of raising awareness of the scale and damage that metal theft is causing in our country today.

"But it’s vital to understand that this scourge doesn’t just affect infrastructure such as cabling and pipes. Much of the UK’s most important and socially valuable building stock is being stripped of its roofing, its guttering and other vital parts of its fabric."

He continued: “Raising public awareness is part of fighting the problem: all too often people see the criminals in the act but mistake them for legitimate builders or trades people.

“Co-operation between the authorities and organisations involved in fighting this crime will also help. We need to share intelligence and learn from our successes.

“Ultimately, we need to work with scrap yards to close off the market for stolen metal in this country and thus protect the architectural heritage the UK is renowned for.”

During the first six months of 2010 Ecclesiastical received a total of 945 theft of metal claims worth more than £2.1m.

The highest number of metal theft claims was recorded in 2008 when, during the first five months of the year, 1,382 claims worth more than £4.2m were received by Ecclesiastical.

Over the last five years, meta theftl from UK churches has cost the insurer over £20m in insurance claims.