Crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers is today launching a pilot campaign to tackle the issue of metal theft across Northumbria which costs the UK economy around £770 million per year.
The Charity is supported by Nexus, and the charity aims to fight the number of incidents occurring in the respective regions that are disrupting the local community.
Huw Lewis, Head of Communications for Nexus, which owns and manages the Tyne and Wear Metro, said: “Metal theft is a problem for the whole community and we want to play our part to confront it.
“Working with partners including police forces and Crimestoppers we have seen a fall in incidents on Metro over the last year, with much less disruption for passengers, and this campaign will help build on that success.”
The aim of this pilot campaign is to increase the amount of information coming to Crimestoppers from the public about the theft of metal, with the view that further campaigns can be run in the future tackling larger scale metal theft affecting industries such as transport and communication.
Crimestoppers Regional Manager for the North East Dave Hunter, said: “Crimestoppers wants to encourage the public to fight back against the metal thieves who create severe disruption for local communities and cost millions to the UK economy.
“We want to scrap the metal thieves and the local public can help us to do this by passing on any information they might have on those committing this crime anonymously to Crimestoppers. We don’t want to know who you are, only what you know and you might even qualify for a reward.”
To pass on information about a metal theft incident, or any crime, please contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or through our secure online form at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.