Stagecoach Group Chief Executive Sir Brian Souter has written to Baroness Browning, Minister for Crime Prevention ft Anti-Social Behaviour Reduction, seeking support for changes in the law to tackle the problem of metal theft, now estimated to be costing the UK economy £770m a year. A spate of major incidents this month caused by the theft of signalling or electrification cable has seen major disruption to services into London Bridge, Paddington and through Guildford, as well as at Harlow where overhead lines were brought down. On June 9, cable theft resulted in 'a complete loss of signalling in the Farnborough and Woking area', causing major disruption for SWT during the evening peak (RB1392 p1). Souter is calling for 'a robust licensing regime' requiring scrap dealers not only to reduce the risk of purchasing stolen materials, but also to pay a licence fee that local authorities could use to fund regulation of the industry.
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