Rhondda Cynon Taf Council has revealed to Resource that it has issued £2,675 of fines to illegal scrap metal collectors in the past five months alone.

Since September 2012, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council and partner agencies (including South Wales Police and British Transport Police) have prosecuted five rogue collectors in a clamp down on metal theft and illegal scrap metal activities in the area.

The latest offenders to be fined include Gary Evans and Carl John Thomas Williams, both aged 26, who were fined £345 and £1,045 respectively for transporting scrap metal without licences.

Pontypridd Magistrates Court found Evans guilty of transporting controlled waste without the correct documentation (an offence under the Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989) and fined him £180, ordered him to pay costs of £150 and gave him a victim surcharge of £15.

Carl John Thomas Williams, aged 26 from Hendre Road, Caerphilly, had been ordered to pay a total of £1,045 in fines (£900 fine, costs of £130 and a victim surcharge of £15) after it was revealed that he had been stopped on two separate occasions, the latter of which it was discovered that he had originally given police incorrect contact details.

‘Stealing’ from tax payers

Speaking of the prosecutions, Nigel Wheeler, Director for Streetcare at Rhondda Cynon Taf Council, said: “Scrap metal is a controlled waste and must be transported in accordance with the current control of pollution legislation. It is an offence for people to transport scrap metal for profit or reward without first registering with the Environment Agency.

“This case also highlights how valuable the sharing of intelligence and information is when it comes to catching criminals and tackling metal theft. The council is working closely with many different organisations and has forged a good working relationship with South Wales Police. We will catch those who continue to steal from tax payers.”

According to the council, metal theft has, to date, cost the council over £250,000 in damage and seen eight people lose their lives.

Operation Tornado

Police and Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s Streetcare Enforcement and Awareness team have been clamping down on the illegal transportation of scrap metal following a spate of metal thefts across the county.

Having launched the Metal Snatchers campaign in September 2012 (which includes an educational DVD on the harmful effects metal theft can have on people, infrastructure and buildings), the council has reportedly seen the number of reported metal theft incidences fall by over 40 per cent.

The council campaign reinforces Operation Tornado, an anti-metal theft scheme developed in partnership with the British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA), the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), the Home Office, and Northumbria, Durham and Cleveland Police.

Under the operation, anyone selling scrap metal to participating dealers has to provide photographic proof of identity, ensuring that metal can no longer be sold anonymously.

The scrap metal industry has been the focus of an overhaul in industry legislation recently, with government implementing a ban on all cash transactions for scrap metal at recycling yards in December 2012 and passing the Scrap Metal Dealers Bill – which will see scrap dealers having to apply for a mandatory licence from their local authority – last week (expected to achieve Royal Assent ‘before Easter’ 2013).

Anyone with information relating to metal theft is asked to call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.