THE boss of a steel fencing firm has spoken out against current laws which he says make it too easy for thieves to sell scrap metal.

Joe Cook, managing director of Derwent Valley Forge in Crambe, said they had been burgled eight times in the past few years, always for metal.

He said: “I’ve been burgled twice this year already, and a couple of times last year.

“I’m a small business owner and it’s difficult enough doing business as it is without having these burglaries.”

He said the police were sure his items were going to scrap, even though a thief would only have got £150 for a £1,000 piece of machinery they stole last year.

Last week, they stole steel girders, and when Joe called his supplier to order some more, he was told he could not, because they had been burgled too.

He said: “The problem really occurs when you might end up completing a job late.

“Even though you hope to recoup most of it through insurance, my insurance premiums have gone up, and you don’t always get it back.

“There’s no logging at the scrapyard, it all just goes in and out. They give a receipt for one ton of scrap, but you don’t have to account for where it comes from.

“If all the stuff they take in had to be accounted for, they wouldn’t be pinching it in the first place.

“The police come to try and make you feel better, but they know they can’t do anything. They’re never going to find something that’s been stolen. They need to stop it happening in the first place.”

A spokesman for the British Metals Recycling Association said that metal prices were historically high, and while 13 million tonnes of metal were traded legitimately every year, a further 15,000 tonnes of metal were stolen.

He said documenting where each piece of metal came from would not work for legitimate dealers, who collect hundreds of items they then sell on.

He said under the “outdated” Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964, the police and the Environment Agency had powers to police scrapyards, which were legitimately registered with the agency and local authority.

But he said they had no powers to police illegitimate sites, which did not have a permit.

Peter Stevenson, the Environment Agency's team leader for the York area, said: "We have strong powers with which to deal with illegal scrap sites and use them on a regular basis. We work with the police to stop people we suspect of transporting waste illegally and we can shut down illegal transfer stations. We have a long list of companies and individuals currently in court around Yorkshire on charges relating to the illegal transporting, storing or dumping of waste, so it's untrue to suggest that we don't have any powers to deal with such activity.

"But we can't be everywhere, we need the public's help to tell us where they think these illegal sites are so that we can investigate. They can call us free and in confidence 24 hours a day on 0800 80 70 60."