VPS, responsible for managing over 90,000 vacant properties in the UK and
abroad, has welcomed the final stage of the Scrap Metal Dealers Bill through
the House of Lords on Tuesday February 12th.
On the same evening the BBC screened a special documentary 'The Hunt for
Britain's Metal Thieves' stating: "The high price of metal has led organised
criminal gangs to tear apart Britain's infrastructure, stripping metal from
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railways, power stations, churches and even war memorials'.
"For some time we've been highlighting to owners of empty premises about the risks and costs to businesses from the rising trend of metal theft,
commenting only a fortnight ago on the Home Office’s latest Crime against
businesses survey, which reported 67,000 of these crimes took place last
year." said Simon Alderson, Commercial Director of VPS. "As a trade, scrap
metal dealers themselves have often have been victims of these crimes, but
the Bill has come about because some dealers are willing to pay cash for
scrap metal offered to them by anyone."
"The Government amended the 1964 Act to prohibit cash payments to purchase scrap metal last October, but this new Bill goes much further by not only making it illegal to take cash but it also requires all sellers of metal to provide verifiable ID at point of sale and the onus is on the dealers to
record and retain records of each purchase." Mr Alderson explained.
(GK/IT)
