One of our churches in South Cambridgeshire was struck by would-be thieves last week but the alarm system prevented any theft of lead and the perpetrators fled the scene. A team or our engineers visited the site the following day and replaced two compromised sensors.
There was no lead stolen or lifted on the roof but we have been informed that police are investigating the attempted theft and that forensics were also onsite when our engineers attended.
Scenes of crime forensic officers investigating at the church in question.
The cost of rural crime varies across different parts of the country. In the East of England, the cost of rural theft fell over 22% in 2021 to £5.1m. Amongst other English regions, the Midlands was the worst affected by cost (£8.4m), followed by the South East (£7.5m) and the North East (£6.7m). The Midlands (+1.7%) and the South East (+1.1%) were the only English regions not to see a fall last year.
source -fenlandcitizen.co.uk
See below information from the Ely Diocese
Theft of metal from Places of Worship
The Diocese has been informed about a recent attempt to steal metal from the roof of a church in South Cambridgeshire.
Fortunately the church was protected by an insurer-approved alarm system. These are very effective at deterring thieves, and in the unlikely event that the thieves manage to circumvent the alarms, the PCC will still be covered by their insurer because the alarm complies with their specification. In this case the thieves left empty-handed and the Police were able to collect forensic evidence to support their ongoing investigations.
What can you do?
Until the end of 2022 the Benefact Trust is funding 50% of the installation cost of an alarm, up to a maximum of £2,500 Find out more here.
If your church suffers from lead theft, Historic England (click here) publishes guidance on the best way to repair the damage.
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