News £15,000 bill after church lead theft
A parish church says it has been let down by its own CCTV cameras after being targeted by lead thieves for the fourth time in just over a year.
Snaith Priory faces a £15,000 bill for damage to its stonework and lead windows after thieves stole metal from its vestry roof.
It was the fourth time in 15 months that the Grade 1-listed church had been targeted. The thefts have so far cost the priory £30,000 in lead replacements and repairs. Church staff say they are puzzled as to how thieves are managing to evade detection by two CCTV cameras covering the church roof and grounds.
Canon Cyril Roberts, team rector at the priory, said the fact that none of the thefts had ever been picked up by CCTV meant questions had to be asked about its effectiveness. He added: "There's a CCTV camera on the tower of the priory, but it's not picking anything up. The church is covered from front to back and I've done everything that the CCTV people have asked me to do - including investing in 'black' lights - yet we have another theft and they don't pick it up."
Church staff and Snaith town councillors - who were also involved in setting up the cameras - believe that a tree might be obstructing the coverage but are at a loss to explain why the camera on the tower is not catching people on the roof.
"It's a mystery," said Mr Roberts. "Whether these thieves are finding a way of of blocking it (the CCTV coverage) we just don't know. It could be working all right but why they are not picking anything up is a mystery to us all."
He said the priory had reported the latest theft to police and they had asked the CCTV control room in Goole to trawl through the footage from that night, but no incidents had been reported back.
He added: "We should be able to see people in the odd hours when they are stealing here - it's a bit embarrassing. We're very, very disappointed and saddened about the thefts. It's terrible, awful, that people do this."
Such has been the frequency of lead thefts at the priory that repair work from the first theft 15 months ago has still not been finished.
The thieves have been targeting lead fall-pipes - which have still not been replaced - and metal from the roof.
"The lead fall-pipes need special replacements and most of them went in the first theft - we're still waiting for the contractor to do them," said Canon Roberts. "He's got so much work on because everybody and his dog has suffered at the hands of lead thieves - so much so that we're in a queue for our replacements!"
At a meeting of Snaith and Cowick Town Council on Monday, councillors were shown a letter sent by Enid Roberts, secretary to Snaith District Church Council (DCC), in which she said she was worried that the CCTV cameras were not proving a real deterrent to criminals.
Councillors voted to pass on a copy of the letter to the CCTV control centre in Goole.
In the letter, Mrs Roberts said the the thieves had caused a "huge amount' of damage to windows, stonework and the priory's new steel roofing.
But Snaith councillor Greta Lawton said: "I'm very sorry to hear this has happened but the church is very difficult to see on the CCTV.'
Terry Fisher, owner of Fisher Security, which operates the cameras, said the CCTV system around the church and the rest of the town centre was working "fantastically well".
In a joint statement from Mr Fisher and Goole Town Council - which controls the CCTV monitoring centre - it was pointed out that, since the 'black' lights had been installed there had been no more thefts from the illuminated areas.
Mr Fisher said that, despite the lack of lighting, the Goole system was the only one in the East Riding to secure a prosecution against lead thiefs. He said: "It's understood that the conviction in relation to the theft of lead from Snaith Priory - which resulted in about £30,000 of damage - led to a fine of £350.
"This is clearly no deterrent, given the extent of the crime, and therefore such offences will continue."
He added: "As far as I'm concerned flogging should be reinstated because that would solve it.
"In my view we should go back to flogging in the market place."
Published on 29th May 2008 in News.
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