Ban cash in scrap metal deals
It’s almost impossible to track stolen scrap metal says the CLA, as it campaigns to stop cash transactions in the trade


The CLA is continuing to lobby the Government to ban cash transactions in scrap-metal dealing, despite the rejection of Labour MP Graham Jones's Metal Theft (Prevention) Bill on its second reading earlier this month. However, the measure may now go through as part of the Legal Aid Bill.
The CLA estimates that about one-fifth of the industry's annual turn-over of £5 billion is in cash, which means stolen metal cannot be traced. Metal theft has doubled in the past five years, and, in addition to the infuriating episodes of train-signalling cable being stolen, the CLA has compiled a dossier of other incidents. Thieves stripped the lead off the roof of a historic pump house on the River Kennet in West Berkshire, and the owners have been waiting since last May for Natural England to give them permission to reroof.
In Shropshire, four thefts in three years of lead roofing on a listed holiday cottage have cost the owners £60,000 in repairs and £4,000 in lost letting income. Meanwhile, a Yorkshire village has had its mains-electricity cable stolen twice in 18 months, and manholes and water butts regularly disappear.
The CLA's president Harry Cotterell comments: ‘There seems to be plenty of local stealing-to-order with little disincentive to the thieves, as the police response is usually non-existent. Something must be done.'
* Subscribe to Country Life and save up to 41%
Sign up for the Country Life Newsletter
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.
-
'The watch is Head Boy of men’s accessorising': Ginnie Chadwyck-Healey and Tom Chamberlin's Summer Season style secrets
When it comes to dressing for the Season, accessories will transform an outfit. Ginnie Chadwyck-Healey and Tom Chamberlin, both stylish summer-party veterans, offer some sage advice.
-
Lewis Hamilton, Claude Monet and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Country Life Quiz of the Day, April 29, 2025
Tuesday's Quiz of the Day looks back at Lewis Hamilton's first win and ponders on the meaning of greige.