Lead Theft

There has been much media coverage over the past year about the theft of metal from buildings, and in particular lead. Unfortunately the Trust has suffered along with parish churches and it is an expensive problem for us to deal with. Why is the theft of lead such a problem and what is the Trust doing about it?

The thefts are being fuelled by a very buoyant market for metals that has come about because of the booming economies in Asia, and in particular China and India. It is thought that much of what is stolen is on the Continent within 24 hours. Criminals see easy pickings in selling second hand metals stolen from buildings and Trust churches, many of which are relatively isolated and covered in lead sheets, are perfect targets. We have lost lead sheets from roofs, lead drainpipes, flashings (the bits of metal around the edge of tiled roofs), copper lightning conductors and lead windowsills.

The Trust is tackling this issue in two ways – firstly, identification of the stolen metals so that if criminals are caught it can be returned to us (the value of old lead can offset the cost of new sheets), and secondly, increased security to deter potential thieves and prevent it being stolen in the first place.

Smartwater is a product applied to metal that contains a unique code, and this code can be read by specialist equipment to identify where the metal came from. It is expensive but a little goes a long way. We are currently investigating how best to use Smartwater on our churches and negotiating a purchase price. Security measures to prevent theft include; identification cards for our maintenance contractors so everyone is clear that they are authorised to be working at our churches - maintenance contractors will now telephone a key contact in advance to warn of their impending visit - consideration of audio, PIR lighting and trip wire alarm systems. New technologies mean that today these systems can be wireless and send SMS messages to key contacts to warn of problems – perfect for isolated churches with no electricity. We will consider alarm systems at our most vulnerable churches. However, the most useful deterrent is increased surveillance by local people, and we would ask that you contact the Trust if you see anything at all suspicious at a Trust church. If no one is available do consider taking registration details of any vehicles nearby which can be followed up later – anyone around for legitimate reasons should not object – and also contacting the local police. The Trust is very grateful for any help that you can give in preventing this very costly and worrying problem.

NR