Wessex Water valves found in scrapyard raid (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

'As new' items seized at Christian Malford site

10:40am Tuesday 31st January 2012 in Chippenham By Alex Winter

'AS new' valves thought to belong to Wessex Water were among items seized in a raid on a Christian Malford scrapyard which resulted in four arrests.

Police went to four scrapyards in Chippenham, Swindon, Trowbridge and Melksham on Monday as part of Operation Herald, a crackdown on metal thefts across Wiltshire.

At Porter Skip Hire Ltd in the village near Chippenham, two men aged 28 and 39 were arrested on the site, while a man aged 25 and a 12-year-old boy were arrested in a van near the scrapyard.

The first man was arrested on suspicion of theft of lead piping, but was later released with an adult caution, while the second to be arrested on the site is suspected of handling stolen goods, although has not yet been charged.

Police worked alongside officers from Wiltshire Council’s Environment Enforcement Unit, the Environment Agency and Wessex Water to target the sites, as well as four Martin Schorah, sector inspector for Chippenham, Calne and Malmesbury, said the agencies met regularly for four months before the raid took place.

He said: "It showed the importance of meeting regularly with the partners who helped with this.

"They were committed in coming to the meetings we have held and it helped us to formulate the operation that took place. Not only did they engage early on, but they agreed to supply staff to support the police."

Around 12 police officers, including three special constables entered the site first, asking employees to turn off their mobile phones and shut down machinery, before investigations began.

Insp Schorah said: "We conducted a methodical search of the premises before seizing a number of valves believed to belong to Wessex Water and some drain covers we suspect of belonging to Wiltshire Highways.

"A skip-load of metal was taken away by a lorry."

Mark Reglar, of Wessex Water, said there were about 20 valves which looked new and, if possible, would be used again.

"If the items are ours, and not damaged, they can be put back into the system," he said.

A representative from the Environment Agency said the highest-value metal is copper, which sells for around £4,000 a tonne.