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An undercover operation has revealed the extent to which rogue scrap dealers are willing to launder stolen metal. The illicit trade, which is worth an estimated millions of pounds, causes all sorts of knock-on effects when cable is stolen from power or rail lines.

A 20 pence charge for public toilets is one of a series of options being considered by councillors, which also include the possibility of permanently closing toilets other than in selected tourist hotspots.

An ex-Premiership footballer completed a fall from grace when he was sent to prison this week. While investigating unconnected armed robberies across Lancashire, police discovered Ronnie Wallwork was taking in car parts to be sold onto the black market.

Police are asking for information after farm vehicles were stolen from an equestrian school. Tractors were taken from the riding school in West Lothian at the beginning of the week.

The authorities have offered a £1,250 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction over the destruction of parking meters.

A church has been allowed to install a stainless steel roof in order to thwart criminals. St Nicholas’ Church, in Lincolnshire is one of the first to replace a major section of the roof with the non-traditional material, after it suffered thefts.

Officers said a large part of a recent ‘sting’ operation which took £68,000 of cash from suspected criminals came as a direct result of information which had been provided by the public since the launch of

The government has said it is working with the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) to come up with a plan to tackle the problem of stolen scrap.

Police say reducing chances of becoming a victim of crime was by “following the crime prevention steps promoted through Operation After Dark." The force warned that criminals start to capitalise on the shorter days.

Another scrap yard has been targeted in a raid which police believe will benefit the black market. Thieves got away with metal worth thousands of pounds during a night-time break-in on a yard in Devon.

Operation Journal is a successful police clampdown which has meant people have been charged with 70 separate offences over the past month. It is a response to the amount of metal thefts in Fife.

A scheme which pays firms for opening their toilets to the public has been called a failure. Residents and workers around a Wokingham town centre say people are being caught short in the centre since two companies removed themselves from the Local Loo partnership earlier this year.