Metal theft has been a problem for many years. British Transport Police and others have shown a link between metal commodity prices and levels of theft – higher metals prices more theft.

It has reached the stage where on a typical month £1M of metals are stolen from church roofs every month. Even war memorials are being stolen and melted down for scrap.

With the eurozone crisis metal demand in Europe has seen a temporary downward blip but in Spring 2012 it is expected to surge again with Chinese house building causing demand to rise.

You can only harden targets so much and many have been.

So how to get really reduce metal theft? Currently scrap metal dealers keep very poor records despite the Scrap Metal Dealers Act requirements. Ensuring greater compliance to accurate records would help but more importantly making it illegal to deal in cash would start to nail this crime. Whilst cash is king in the scrap metal industry, annoymity and corruption and theft follow close behind.

A private members bill has been proposed to make it illegal to make cash payments for scrap. An ePetition has been raised which is nearly halfway to the required 100,000 signatures to ensure the matter is debated by parliament.

Please do sign this PETITION to help end most metal theft.