The numbers of metal thefts from historic sites have soared into the thousands compared with a handful just a few years ago, latest figures show.

Speaking at an ACPO-backed Metal Theft seminar in Northamptonshire, Association Lead for Wildlife and Rural Crime CC Richard Crompton said churches had taken the brunt of the thefts amid the soaring price of lead.

The Lincolnshire Chief emphasised that there had been just six claims registered against ecclesiastical insurance in 2004 for lead thefts – compared to 2,500 last year.

He added: “In the past five years we have seen 8,000 claims against ecclesiastical insurance alone. There has been a quantum lead in this type of acquisitive crime.

“Historic buildings have been targeted, and we have also seen highly emotive cases of people damaging war memorials in a move to steal the metal.”

CC Crompton told PoliceOracle.com that thefts from heritage sites provided their own distinct challenge to officers in the wider metal theft problem.

Unlike the theft of cable – which often had a Level II crime dimension with its resale and transportation across the world to countries such as Turkey and China – he stressed that the targeting of historic buildings was often carried out by localised offenders.

But the Chief Constable emphasised: “Heritage crime is not victimless and it is rightly something that is being taken very seriously by the Police Service.

“Historic buildings and other sites are irreplaceable and these thefts are not only damaging the fabric of communities, they are denying something from future generations.”

CC Crompton, however, said he was heartened to see so many delegates from the policing family and the corporate world squaring up to the problem at the conference in Kettering.

While he accepted that better regulation of the scrap metal industry would also make a difference combined with enforcement, he stressed it would not be a panacea.

CC Crompton concluded: “My personal view is that better regulation will ultimately make it more difficult for criminals to sell the metal that they have stolen.

“But while it is an important part of an overall strategy, it is not a silver bullet.”