Police have said they confiscated 23 tonnes of scrap metal during a recent operation targeting metal thieves.
Officers joined forces with Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Trading Standards and Environmental Health officers for the one day crackdown, part of the wider Operation Ignite.
The police force said the emphasis of the recent action was to remind scrap collectors of the No ID, No Cash scheme running in the county borough. This is where yards only accept scrap from those registered with the council.
In total 99 vehicles were stopped throughout the day – results included:
10 people were reported for summons for failing to be registered / or failing to keep appropriate records
36 alloy wheels seized
23 tons of metal were seized with the approximate value of £3000. This included one large skip containing 10 tons of scrap metal with no records of where it had originated from. All of the metal seized on the day was taken to the Penmaen civic amenities site.
Sergeant Simon Clarke, who coordinated the operation, said: “This operation was a very positive result for Caerphilly county borough. It was the first time we used the Caerphilly County Borough Council civic amenities site in Penmaen and as a result it was positively received from members of the public legitimately dropping off their recycling and waste.
“The success of this operation is down to the great effort from our partner agencies. Metal theft is down significantly for the force, with metal theft in Caerphilly now down by 52% from September 2011 when No ID No Cash was first introduced – I have no doubt it is down to operations like these that contribute to our recent reductions.”
Cllr Rob Gough, cabinet member for public protection said: “Metal theft is a serious crime, and our officers have been and will continue to work tirelessly with our partners at Gwent Police to tackle this issue. This operation and others like it clearly demonstrates the benefits of several agencies working together to tackle scrap metal theft in our county borough.”