Escalating theft of rail signalling and electrical cabling by criminals cashing in on the high cost of scrap metal has led Ian Johnston, the Chief Constable of the British Transport Police, to declare the problem “the second-biggest challenge” after terrorism.

Copper thieves are also targeting electricity facilities, with Scottish-Power suffering about five break-ins a week at its substations. The company will brand wire with its name or a code so that scrap metal merchants can tell if it is stolen. It believes that organised crime is behind many of the thefts because often several substations are hit at the same time.

A spokesman for the Energy Networks Association, the industry body, said: “There has been a massive increase in cable theft over the past 18 months. It is a huge problem. It is hard to establish a national picture, but some police forces are reporting a 150 per cent increase in cable theft.”

The energy, rail and telecoms industries have joined a task force led by the Association of Chief Police Officers and British Transport Police to try to stop the crimes.

It is the first time that a national police task force has been assembled to tackle commodity theft, a crime more colloquially associated with lead disappearing from church roofs. It is expected to come under pressure to call for tougher legislation of the scrap metal industry, including requiring dealers to fully record purchases and to stop paying suppliers in cash.

The cost of replacing cables for the electricity industry is estimated at up to £3 million this year, while power companies say that the safety and supply implications are much greater.

Network Rail estimated its costs at more than £4 million this year. A spokesman said: “The railway is increasingly falling victim to cable thefts. These cause massive disruption for passengers and use up money we would rather spend on the network.”

North West England and southern and mid-Scotland suffer the worst electricity cable crime. North East England accounts for the majority of rail cable thefts.

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