Cable theft as serious as terrorism

Published on 24 Dec 2007

Theft of electrical cabling from Britain's railways has been declared a problem second only to terrorism by the head of the British Transport Police.

Power stations have also been targeted, a spokesman for industry body the Energy Networks Association commented,

"There has been a massive increase in cable theft over the past 18 months. It is a huge problem. It is hard to establish a national picture, but some police forces are reporting a 150 per cent increase in cable theft."

A Network Rail spokesman said,

"The railway is increasingly falling victim to cable thefts these cause massive disruption for passengers and use up money we would rather spend on the network."

A special task force, led by the Association of Chief Police Officers and British Transport Police has been set up to combat metal theft.