26th February 2013
SCRAP METAL THIEVES IN GRIMSBY TARGET DEALERSHIP
Scrap metal thieves in Grimsby have got away with over £3,000 worth of parts from cars parked in a dealership car park. This is the second time this has happened in the last three months, that the Hartwell in corporation has been targeted by thieves looking for metal which attract high prices from scrap dealers. Three sets of four wheels, worth an average price of £150 per wheel and three catalytic converters worth around £400 each, were stolen from cars which were left sitting on bricks between 8pm on Tuesday and 7am yesterday. Manager Dave Robertson has warned other businesses to remain aware of these thieves who may be scouting other dealerships to target.
This can't have been a random attack with the amount that has been stolen, the thieves knew exactly what items to target. It is really frustrating because we are the ones that have to replace the parts that have been stolen. We are trying to make people aware of this problem to stop this taking place on other premises. Bobbie Gray who is part of Tony's Autos who is next door to Hartwell, has said that this is the sixth time that thieves have targeted the premises in the last year alone, it's so heartbreaking when you notice items are still going missing, even with the CCTV that has been put in place to tackle these sort of problems.
Mr Robertson said "In January there were three sets of wheels stolen, the police caught the man responsible for the theft but even with him being caught this still didn't help us to get the wheels back'' £40,000 worth of items were stolen from Tony's Autos in Armstrong Street in January, Grimsby Telegraph readers went around to donate the tools needed to keep the business ticking over as they couldn't afford to take the loss.
As reported, metal theft has become widespread with reports of overhead cabling, metal from train lines, copper piping from houses and even lead from church roofs being stolen in Lincolnshire over the last 12 months. Earlier this year, crime prevention minister Lord Henley hit out at the £5-billion scrap metal industry, which has been blamed for buying stolen metal, telling it to "clean up its act" If you have information about scrap metal thefts, or you have been a victim, call police on 101
25th February 2013
BEWARE OF SCAMS WHEN SCRAPPING YOUR CAR
Scrapping cars has became a big problem in the UK, and it's becoming bigger, and bigger. Plenty of victims have found them selfs on the receiving end of this problem, and are being fined as high as £5000. Many car owners seem to think that once they have scrapped their cars then thats the end of the matter for them, but if a owner sells their vehicle and the car is found to be used in criminal activity the innocent owner could be held liable.
These unlicensed scam artists know full well that the car they have purchased are still in the names of the previous owner and no that they can still be liable. This means the previous owners can end up with a nasty fine under the rules of the Driver and vehicle licensing agency [DVLA] Car owners who are looking to scrap their cars now need to make sure they receive a CERTIFICATE OF DESTRUCTION [C.O.D] if car owners do not receive a C.O.D this can leave the car owner liable for certain types of illegal use in the future. Legal scrap car dealers are not so easy to find on the internet, and phone books many scrap car businesses offer a service to recover your car, car storage and used, and new car parts.
18th February 2013
Car Owners too Lazy To Wash Their Own Cars
Uk car owners are now too lazy to wash their own cars, according to a recent survey 78 per cent of people preffered to have someone else washing their car as they often do a better job for a reasonable price. The survey showed 90 per cent of women visited hand car washes more regularly as this was looked upon as another chore, whilst 69 per cent of males viewed this as a chore they also view it as a leisure activity for the weekend.
The reasons why hand car washes are so popular today are due to busy lifestyles, boredom and simply being too lazy. The amount spent on getting your car washed in the Uk today is from the figures of £3 to £25 per wash, the average is ranging at around £7.
A spokesperson from central contracts said ''I am suprised to see that so many people prefer to pay to have their cars cleaned rather than doing it themselves, also intresting to see that the younger generation avoid washing their vehicles, and it's rather disappointing to see''
17th February 2013
Plans For 80mph Under Debate
The Transport Secretary,Patrick Mcloughlin is determined to make road safety a greater priority and does not want to implement the 80mph speed limit proposal increasing the motorway speed limit by 10mph from its current level of 70mph was first suggested under Labour and was pursued by Philip Hammond, who as transport secretary, launched the plan officially in 2011. Mr Hammond claimed the move would reduce congestion and improve the economy by “hundreds of millions of pounds”. However, road safety campaigners and environmental groups attacked the proposal. The road safety group Brake, warned that there would be more deaths and serious injuries on motorways with an 80mph speed limit.
David Cameron and George Osborne, the Chancellor, are both understood to be “agnostic” about raising the speed limit and Mr McLoughlin is understood to believe there is no significant support for it within the cabinet, apart from Mr Hammond, who is now the Defence Secretary.
A coalition source said: “There is no imminent announcement of a U-turn, but rest assured, there is no way Patrick {McLoughlin] is going to preside over a raising of the limit on motorways. You are likely to hear official confirmation later in the year.”
Campaigners said bringing in the 80mph speed limit would mean that the “de facto” limit would be 90mph – because under guidelines normally applied by the Association of Chief Police Officers a motorist will not face prosecution unless caught driving at 10 per cent plus 2mph above the limit. Britain’s speed limits are lower than most other countries in Europe. France and Italy both impose a maximum of 81mph, while Germany has no restriction at all.
Half of all motorway drivers currently break the 70mph limit, according to a recent survey
3rd December 2012
Scrap Yards Banned From Paying Cash
Recycling metal for cash is now no longer legal across england and wales, uder the new law set in place to reduce cable theft. Metal theft has plagued the railways industry for the past few years,disrupting services across the country. The Association of Chief Police Officers estimates that metal theft costs the UK economy £770m every year. Theft of cable on the railways have dropped from more than 2,600 in 2011 to under 1,300 so far this year due to a police campaign to tackle the problem.
The Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc) said: "People in communities across the country are suffering because of cable theft, whether through disruption to train journeys, disabled phone lines or desecrated war memorials." It said the new measures would be "a real asset in the ongoing fight against metal theft" and welcomed the changes. British Transport Police deputy chief constable Paul Crowther said metal theft remained a serious threat to infrastructure in England and Wales. Workers in the metal recycling industry say legislation alone is not enough. The metal recycling industry is worth about £5.6bn annually and employs almost 8,000 people in the UK. Home Secretary Theresa May announced the changes in January, saying cash payments had led to "anonymous, low-risk transactions" for thieves and meant "poor record keeping" within the industry. The Scottish government has proposed the introduction of similar measures.
01 SEPTEMBER 2012
Scrap metal dealers now working with local police forces
Scrap metal dealers in the West Midlands will no longer buy scrap metal from people without any form of photographic ID and proof of address. West Midlands Police has linked up with Staffordshire Police, West Mercia Police and Warwickshire Police to help crack down on the scrap metal theft and have launched 'Operation Tornado'
Police will be working with scrap yards up and down the country to ensure all scrap metal dealers are following the same rules and regulations when it comes to ID and will be visiting scrap metal dealers to ensure they are abiding by the agreement. It said that "a vast majority" of local scrap yards have welcomed 'Operation Tornado' and have all signed a voluntary agreement to ask for proof of identity.
Detective Inspector Gordon Roberts leads the new team in the West Midlands Force CID said: "In the past we have seen scrap metal thieves travelling hundreds of miles across the the UK to sell on what they have stolen because they know that some local forces are tough on cracking down on scrap metal dealers.
27th June 2012
Motorists welcome the freezing fuel duty
The Government's decision to freeze fuel duty for the remainder of the year will save an extra 3p rise that was already deferred from January 2012, unless it's backed up with more financial help for British drivers, George Osborne will face growing resentment from the UK's 32 million motorists. Asda is cutting fuel prices this week to 127.7p a litre for petrol and 132.7p for diesel. Tesco and Sainsburys are also set to cut their prices by 2p per litre in a bidding war.
There should be no further rises in fuel duty until the Government cuts a significant amount of pennies it takes in each pound we pay at the pumps. 60p of every pound is one of the highest levels of tax in the EU and one of the highest in the world. Other frustrating topics amongst motorists is the Dartford crossing. The tolls were put in place specifically to pay back the amount it cost to build the crossing in 2003, but thousands of motorists a day still pay for the privilege of queuing to use the Dartford crossing.
28th May 2012
Nine cars destroyed in Birmingham scrapyard arson attack
Suspected arson attack on a scrap yard in birmingham destroys nine cars and part of a building. Is it believed the scrap yard on Jameson Road, Nechells, Birmingham thought to be used as a breakers yard, was started deliberatly at around 1am on Monday mornig.
The flames quickly spread destroying 9 cars and a building which was partially damaged. A West Midlands Fire Service source said: This was arson, the fire was started deliberately. Nobody was hurt in the blaze.
24th May 2012
Satnav sent a young driver to her death down the wrong slip road
Lauren Smee, who had only passed her test three months before the accident approached a rounabout in the dark when her sat nav told her to take the first exit. She failed to notice that the first exit was actually a exit slip road to the A27, near Castle Goring, West Sussex.
A BMW travelling in the opposite direction collided with her Ford Ka. Miss Smee later died in hospital while Stuart Hope-Kirk, the BMW driver, suffered a fractured ankle and fractured spine.
Miss Smee’s mother, Penny, has called for training on satnavs to be included in driving lessons and that inexperienced drivers had to be cautios when using satnavs. Lauren was making a 16 mile journey to pick a friend up and wasn't sure of the way, she inadvertently strayed on to the wrong carriageway of the A27 near Worthing. Lauren was a studying at Chichester College and also worked as a barmaid in Fishbourne.
The BMW driver Mr Hope-Kirk, from Bexhill, East Sussex, told the hearing: "I saw what looked like headlights coming towards me, they were on my side of the road and had no time to react".
Pc Stuart medlycott from Sussex police said the signns are quite high on the exit slip road, a lapse in concentration and being unfamiliar with the junction Miss Smee would have thought she was travelling the correct way. The highways Agency has now improved the signage at the junction to prevent another tragic accident. Pc Stuart Medlycott followed the same route using a satnav that Miss Smee had taken. He said: "The satnav said cross the roundabout at the first exit, the first lawful exit being Titnore Lane. The coroner for West Sussex recorded a verdict of accidental death.
12th May 2012
Motorists In Milton Keynes Face MOT Problems
After researching 24.5 million MoT records which were obtained by Honest John, one in five cars failed their first test. More than one in 10 cars in Milton Keynes failed their MoT due to defective brakes and suspension, this is 60 per cent higher than anywhere else in the country. Aberdeen has emerged to be the worst place to own a car with a huge 45 per cent of cars failing their MoT.
Their ore obvious patterns across the country for cars failing their MOT's for example, car owners near the coast lines suffer badly because of the salt water and often being battered by strong winds.Strangely, In Manchester the main problems for MOT' failures have been registration plates and windscreen wipers.
Car owners in Cardiff were 70 per cent more likely than anywhere else in the country to see their cars fail their MOT for defective tyres
Bradford emerged as the worst place in Britain for defective light bulbs.
But, it's not all doom and gloom, there was a little bit of good news for owners of the classic British Triumph marque in the car’s home city of Coventry, with the classic cars boasting a pass rate 20 per cent higher than the national average.
For the first time ever these statistics are now available to the public after honestjohn.co.uk have published 'The MoT Files which can be found at honestjohn.co.uk/mot.
European manufacturers have the worst ratings with Renault holding the top spot as the manufacturer most likely to fail the MoT, the Megane being the worst culprit with 71 per cent failing their first MOT test.
A Renault spokesman has defended the company’s reputation claiming that its quality was “among the best in the industry"
Not surprisingly, the Japanese have emerged as the most reliable manufacture with the top three places being taken by Honda, Lexus and Suzuki.
Top 10 MOT pass rates by manufacturer:
1. Lexus
2. Suzuki
3. Honda
4. Saab
5. Toyota
6. Audi
7. Smart
8. Mercedes Benz
9. Landrover
10. SEAT
7th May 2012
Drug drivers face jail term under new laws
David Cameron has been personally backed by the family of Lillian Groves – a 14-year-old schoolgirl who was killed by a drug driver in Croydon, London last year. David Cameron said “It simply can't be right that a schoolgirl like Lillian can lose her life and then we discover we don't have the laws or the technology to punish drug drivers properly. Drug drivers are a deadly menace – they must be stopped and that is exactly what I intend to do.”
The new offence will form part of the Queen's Speech and will be enforced by the introduction of “drugyalysers” – drug screening devices – which should be in place by the end of the year. The device will be used at the roadside to enable a police officer to arrest without being required to make motorist perform a Field Impairment – or FIT -Tests of their co-ordination by carrying out tasks such as standing on one leg, touching their nose or walking in a straight line. This will provide evidence that can be used in court. Drivers who refuse to co-operate will be committing an offence similar to that of refusing to take a breath test.
The new device will be able to screen for up to 13 drugs including the most common narcotics such as crack cocaine as well as some prescriptions drugs. The machines will also be capable of not only detecting cocktails of drugs but will also be capable of being updated on a monthly basis to keep up with new narcotics as they are devised by drug dealers. Motorists found guilty of drug driving will face a minimum year's driving ban and could be jailed for up to six months. They could also receive fines of up £5,000.
3rd May 2012
£10,000 of lead stolen from a church in Dorset - DNA grease to help police trap metal thieves
A special form of grease containing microdots which has a unique reference number gets transferred to skin and clothing of the thieves so police can identify anyone linked to thefts. St John the Baptist Church, in Broadstone, has had the grease applied after thieves targeted the church twice after £10,000 of lead was stolen from the roof on 18 April and 19 April. Thousands of pounds of damage to the roof left water pouring into the church.
The grease, funded by the local Community Safety Partnership (CSP), also helps police trace stolen metal, this method will either stop the crime occurring or give us a high chance of capturing those foolish enough to continue with these types of theft.
25th April 2012
Over 60 arrested for metal theft in Lincolnshire
Metal theft inLincolnshire has resulted in over 60 arrests this year as part of a crackdown on metal thefts in Lincolnshire.
Large quantities of metal have also been recovered and, where possible, returned
Cooperation with scrap metal dealers and greater awareness among the public have made it more difficult for metal thieves to escape undetected.
In February 2012 four men were charged with conspiring to steal lead from more than 20 churches.
On 22nd April 2012, two men were arrested after a member of the public reported a theft from St Peter's Church in Saltfleetby. A Grimsby man was also jailed in april after large amounts of lead was discovered at his house.
With cooperation from Scrap Metal Dealers it is becoming increasingly difficult for metal thieves.