A SQUAD dedicated to tackling metal theft has been scrapped by police despite a recent wave of crimes and the rising cash value of copper and lead.

Churches, factories and community centres across the county have been targeted in recent months.

But a spokesman confirmed Wiltshire Police had disbanded the specialist unit and incidents would now be investigated by local officers.

The spokesman said: “There is no central team that deals with metal theft – it was disbanded in the last few weeks.

“It is not a force priority and is now being dealt with at a local level.”

The new head of volume crime for the force, Detective Chief Inspector Nick John, said all incidents would be investigated thoroughly and it was being taken seriously.

He said: “Metal theft is a national issue and we are doing a lot at local level, particularly around intelligence with officers collecting evidence.

“We have had many arrests in relation to various offences, some of which are ongoing.

“We are working with partners to provide reassurance, the neighbourhood policing teams are working within their areas and we are drawing up codes of practice for scrap metal dealers.

“We will target known offenders as well as premises that do not comply with the law as to handling metal.”

In the past three months there have been 63 thefts of metals theft reported to Wiltshire Police.

DCI John said not all of these are typical copper, lead and cable theft as they also include bike thefts and incidents such as damage to greenhouses.