Thieves steal cable from under road

Getty Images A close up of a cut section through four multi-core steel wires and four copper wires, all coated in black.Getty Images
Metal from cables can be sold for scrap for several pounds per kilogram

Audacious thieves have cut and stolen a "large amount" of cable buried under a road in Worcestershire.

Officers say the culprits removed a manhole cover on Stourbridge Road in Catshill near Bromsgrove to access and cut the high-value wires on 4 December.

Late the following night, the same stretch of cable was cut further along the Road.

It was then attached to a vehicle and dragged out of the ground before being cut up and taken away, according to the West Mercia force.

Google A stretch of B-road through a village, with a stone wall in front of a house on one side, trimmed hedges on the other, and cars on the road.  Google
The cables were stolen from under a road in Worcestershire

PC Paul Coles said: "There are two separate occasions when potential witnesses could have been passing through."

"We are keen to speak to anyone who saw anything suspicious."

A sharp rise in metal thefts over a decade ago was curbed by the licensing of scrap dealers and restrictions on untraceable cash transactions.

However, cases remain, with some costing businesses and individuals hundreds of thousands of pounds.

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