Warning For Drain Cover Thieves

Cllr John McCann

Oldham Council has warned criminals who have been stealing drain covers from around Saddleworth that it “will not hesitate” to prosecute them if they get caught.

As reported by Saddleworth News last week (see here), grids have recently been taken from Dobcross, Diggle and Delph. According to the council, Oldham and Failsworth have also been affected, with a total of 120 drain covers stolen from across the borough.

Dobcross-based Cllr John McCann, who represents Saddleworth South and holds the Regeneration and Environment portfolio in the council’s Cabinet, said the council was keeping the police informed.

He commented: “The grid covers that are being stolen are the older cast iron ones which suggests the thefts are carried out by irresponsible people looking to make a quick buck.”

Cllr McCann added: “Removing the grids creates a clear a health and safety hazard. Some of these covers will protect fairly deep holes and if somebody were to fall in, they could have a very nasty accident.”

He went on: “Due to the spate of thefts we are experiencing it may take us a little time to permanently replace these grids, so I would ask the public for patience in this matter.”

Cllr McCann also described as “galling” the amount of council taxpayers’ money which has to be spent dealing with the problem: “The replacement grids are made of ductile iron, so their sell-on value for scrap is almost negligible. Nonetheless, once you take into account the cost of officers’ time, materials and labour, the bill for replacing each grid is up to £300. That is money that could be far better spent elsewhere on other services, such as filling in potholes.”

You can read the council’s statement here.

Anyone who spots a missing grid is asked to contact the council’s Highways Department on 0161 770 4325. The number for the police station in Uppermill is 0161 856 4523, while out-of-hours the best number to use is 0161 872 5050

Author: Jude Gidney - Editor

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