A FOUR-POINT plan to curb the growing trade in stolen metal – blamed for disrupted rail journeys – will be considered by the Government.

Ministers will decide whether to crack down on scrap-metal dealers who sell stolen signalling cable, following pleas from police and MPs in the region and elsewhere.

This week, Transport Minister Norman Baker said he was ready to toughen up the law to tackle what he called a “very serious problem that is having a big impact on the economy and on passengers”.

East Coast rail bosses have blamed metal thieves for the majority of delays on the line, pointing to 171 arrests in the six months to October – a 27 per cent increase on last year.

Police in Darlington believe metal thefts now account for one in four of all thefts in the town, while a raid on a substation on the outskirts of the town last month caused damage and losses of £100,000.

The growing problem has been blamed on a sharp rise in world prices for copper, combined with lax controls on scrap-metal dealers who buy the stolen cable from thieves.

Under existing legislation, dealers must simply obtain a permit from the Environment Agency and register with their local authority to begin working in the industry.

Now the Local Government Association (LGA) has put forward a four-point plan to: 􀁥 Ban cash payments, so people who sell scrap metal can be traced more easily; 􀁥 Require licences to be renewed on an annual basis; 􀁥 Install CCTV with automatic number plate recognition in scrap yards; 􀁥 Require scrap dealers to keep a detailed log of people from whom they buy metal.

Councillor Mehboob Khan, chairman of the LGA’s safer communities board, said existing legislation dated from 1964, adding: “If we are to clamp down on thieves causing chaos and heartbreak by plundering metal for a quick profit, we need to give councils power to ensure the industry is properly run.”

Mr Baker signalled his readiness to act after the cost to the UK economy from metal thefts was put at £770m a year.

He told MPs a cross-departmental group of ministers was considering tougher laws.

“Obviously, we don’t want to resort to the statute book as the first option,” he said. “But there is a very serious problem here and, if we are convinced as ministers that this is the way to deal with metal theft, then that is an option we will look at very seriously.”

Darlington MP Jenny Chapman, who has called for a crackdown, said: “Merchants can pay in cash and keep a register but, if someone says their name is Mickey Mouse, that goes in the register.”