Alert over exposed cable wires
Thieves leave electricity lines dangling in road
METAL thieves are putting lives at risk by leaving live electrical wires exposed on a town’s streets.
Areas in Faifley, near Clydebank, have been plunged into darkness, with thieves leaving lighting cables and gulley covers damaged and live wires hanging over roads and pavements.
A call has been made to people to be on their guard and to report any workmen seen outside working hours near cables or appearing to be working unsafely.
West Dunbartonshire Council says its workers – and their contractors at lighting firm Lightways – will always be in clearly branded vehicles and only undertake the works during normal working hours.
Councillor David McBride, convenor of housing, said: “This vandalism is not only very dangerous to the people who are stealing the cables, it also affects our residents, cyclists and motorists using the pathways and streets who rely on street lighting.
“I would urge the public to be vigilant and to report anyone acting suspiciously to the police immediately.”
Councillor Lawrence O’Neill said the local authority was working hard to stamp out the dangerous practice, but he also called for help.
He said: “All the thefts have been in residential areas and the thieves will have made a lot of noise, so I ask people to be vigilant and help us stamp this out before someone is seriously hurt.”
The thefts come less than a month after Scotland’s public prosecutors declared war on metal thieves.
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal
The thieves will have made a lot of noise so I ask people to be vigilant
Service released a new Metal Theft Policy at the star t of August, which instructs prosecutors to take “a robust prosecution approach” to all such incidents.
Under the guidelines, a sheriff and jury will be called in where there is evidence an offence is connected to serious and organised crime.
Faifley residents who see any suspicious activity are asked to report it to Strathclyde Police on 0141 532 3300 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.