Lead Theft From Schools Costs Council Thousands
Lead and copper thefts from Torfaen schools have cost the council around £86,000 in damages over the last three months.
Three of the boroughs schools have been targeted since November 2016, resulting in huge amounts of damage to class rooms and equipment.
Lead panels were stolen from the roof of West Monmouth School on New Year’s Eve causing ceilings to collapse following heavy rain, damaging the schools IT suite and art rooms, destroying IT equipment and ruining pupil’s art exam work.
The cost to repair the damage is expected to be in the region of £45,000.
In November, lead and copper thefts from Henllys Church in Wales School and Croesceiliog Comprehensive caused around £25,000 and £16,000 worth of damage respectively.
The leader of Torfaen council, Anthony Hunt said: “This is a massive waste of council resources, and is devastating for the pupils who have come back to school after the Christmas break to find all of their hard work ruined.
“This is not the first time we have faced this problem in Torfaen and the roofs have all been treated with SmartWater, which has previously helped the police to trace and prosecute individuals who have stolen lead from our buildings. We have also replaced a lot of lead with substitutes, so thieves could end up with something that is worthless to them.
“We have CCTV footage of the most recent incident which will hopefully help us to identify the thieves and I would urge anyone with any information that may help to contact the police.”
Anyone with information on any of these incidents, or who spots any suspicious activity, should contact Gwent Police on 101.
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