POLICE ALERT OVER MORE CATALYTIC CONVERTER THEFTS
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Police are urging operators to be on their guard following a spate of thefts of catalytic converters from CVs across the UK.
Since 29 June, a total of 17 catalytic converters have been stolen in Stockport, Greater Manchester, with thieves mainly targeting parked delivery vans and then selling the converters on for their scrap value. Precious metals, such as platinum, palladium and rhodium, are coated onto the ceramic structure of the converter as catalysts, increasing their value as scrap.
PC Bill Baines from Greater Manchester Police says: “Each catalytic converter can be worth a lot of money in scrap metal and it can be expensive and time consuming to replace.
“Scrap metal dealers have been visited, and we are patrolling areas and trying to make as many van owners aware as is possible.” Baines says operators can cut down the risks by: • Having good security lighting; • Parking vans or trucks in a garage and keeping it locked; • If the catalytic converter is “bolt on”, getting the bolts welded; • Etching the converter with a serial number – which will help police to track it if it is stolen.
However, North-West operators are not the only ones being singled out by criminals: over the past two months, catalytic converters have been stolen from under vans left parked on a business park in Bracknell, as well as sites in Lincolnshire and Derbyshire.
Last week, two catalytic converters worth £3,000 were stolen from vans in Witham, Essex.
Free converter marking sessions were laid on by Suffolk Police in February after reports of 52 thefts over a two-month period.