Hillingdon Council is tackling metal theft in the borough by replacing a number of items that could be sold for scrap with replica ones.

Thousands of tonnes of metal are stolen across the UK every year. In the last year more than 250 drain covers were stolen from across the borough as well as a number of valuable lead panels from Barra Hall, a council owned listed-building in Wood End Green Road, Hayes.

To combat future thefts the man-hole cover replacements are heavy duty plastic rather than metal and have no scrap value, and the Barra Hall roof was replaced with lead substitute.

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In light of recent thefts the council has decided to remove a sign on the Robbie Bell Bridge, in Church Road, Cowley, and a replacement is being made. The original will be kept in the borough archive for safe storage until a secure venue to display the sign has been found.

The weights sign on the bridge was placed there by Middlesex County Council, which was the local authority before Hillingdon Borough Council came into existence in 1965. The bridge was renamed in 1989 after eight year-old Robbie Bell was hit by a car and killed in August 1987.

Council Leader, Councillor Ray Puddifoot, said: "We have taken the decision to remove the sign in order to keep it safe and at some point in the future we would like to display it along with other Hillingdon memorabilia. Thefts of this kind cost the taxpayer unnecessarily so we are taking preventative measures and saving cash in the long term."

(CD)