A rise in the thefts of metal drain covers is continuing to deplete councils’ highway maintenance budgets, especially in the Northeast.

The theft of drain covers for sale as scrap metal is costing councils Photo: Ian Homer

Durham County Council has seen 1,100 drain covers stolen since December last year.

Roger Elphick, Durham County Council’s acting corporate director for environment, said: ‘The theft of drain covers has become a huge problem in the county. The cost of just making them safe using plastic grates stands at about £137,000.

‘Quite apart from the danger to pedestrians, cyclists and motorists that this theft causes, the replacement cost is a totally unnecessary burden on the council taxpayer, and is money that could be put to better use.’

The cost of full of replacement can be about £1,000 per cover and Durham council is working closely with the police to catch the thieves.

Newcastle City Council has had 70 removed while Sunderland City Council has had 497 metal road gully covers stolen, forcing it to spend £72,000 on replacing them with heavy duty plastic covers.

Essex County Council, meanwhile, is pursuing a programme to replace signs made of high-value metal with glass-reinforced polyester (Surveyor, 21 August 2008).

Cardiff suffered from a spate of thefts last year, with 20 metals covers being stolen each day at the height of the problem. But, by working with the police and changing the design of the covers, the council has seen the number of thefts greatly reduced.

A spokesman for the council said: ‘We had an operation with the police where they visited local scrap metal dealers to make sure they weren’t buying the stolen metal. Changing the design to make the covers hinged to the curb also helped.’