Passing of tougher new laws on metal theft welcomed
It also strengthens the licensing regime around scrap metal, and strengthens the powers of entry into yards suspected of dealing in stolen metal.
Cllr Michael Mullaney (Lib Dem: Hinckley Trinity) and Cllr David Bill (Lib Dem: Hinckley Clarendon) had been campaigning for tougher laws to be brought in to tackle metal theft since two incidents occurred at St Mary's Church in Hinckley last year.
The church suffered £50,000 worth of damage when thieves attempted to steal lead from the Church roof. This was followed by a second theft a short time later that hit the Church Hall.
Cllr Michael Mullaney said "Metal theft has hit our community as we saw with the thefts from St Mary's Church. I'm glad these laws have come into place and hope that they will help prevent repeats of these kind of crimes.
"The Home Office estimate there were 67,000 metal thefts last year and this new law ought to go some way towards clamping down on rogue dealers and taking away the market for stolen metal.
"This is positive progress but we will have to see how successful these measures are at stopping this damaging crime. If it needs to the government should consider further measures to deal with it."
Cllr David Bill said "These metal thieves seem to have no morals at all when it comes to stealing metal.