Reckless metal thieves put residents at risk (From Echo)

Reckless metal thieves put residents at risk

6:20pm Thursday 7th March 2013 in News By Gina Marden

SEVERAL homes had their gas mains ripped from their walls by thieves in the latest spate of metal thefts.
 

Two homes in Paxfords and two in Rowenhall, Laindon were targeted, by reckless crooks who put lives at risk to steal copper piping.
 

Crooks also struck in St Pauls Garden, Billericay, where they stole lead from the roofs of garages; in Ghyllgrove where copper pipes were taken from a building site and in Ryedene Close, PItsea, where they stole piping and a water tank.
 

One resident of Paxfords, 38-year-old John Norman, told how he was sat in his flat watching TV on Saturday evening when his heating began to go off.
 

He said he went outside to check the gas metre and found nothing amiss.
 

But, on Sunday morning, Mr Norman received a knock at the door from a neighbour to say the copper gas mains pipe had been ripped from the wall leaving her home with no hot water or central heating.
 

The thieves had also ripped out the gas metre from an outside cupboard.
 

Two homes in St Pauls Gardens, Billericay, were targeted between 8am last Thursday and 10am the same day. Both had lead stolen from the
garage.
 

A building site on Ghyllgrove, Basildon, was hit between 5pm on Friday, February 22 and 6.30am on Monday, February 25 and stole copper pipes.
Two homes in Rowenhall, Laindon, had copper pipes ripped from the outside wall between 10pm last Tuesday <26> and 9am the next day.
Thieves smashed their way into the house in Ryedene Close, Pitsea and stole copper piping and a water tank.

Anyone with information about any of the thefts can contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.