Spate of drain grates being stolen
Written by John Williamson on 07/12/2018
Lancashire County Council is asking people to be vigilant after a number of metal drain grates have been stolen in Lancaster and Morecambe.
The cast iron grates have gone missing from quiet back streets, with highways officers suspecting they have been removed at night and sold for their scrap value.
County Councillor Keith Iddon, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “Aside from the cost to Lancashire tax payers of replacing these drain grates, our main concern is the danger that a pedestrian or cyclist could severely injure themselves due to a missing grate.
“We’ve received a handful of reports over the last week or so about missing grates, and our concern is there may be many more which have been stolen which people have not yet noticed, or not reported.
“Some of them were in back streets where people might not often go other than to put their bins out, and we’re concerned that someone might not see that the grate is missing until it’s too late on a dark night.
“I’d ask people to be aware of this issue, report any missing grates they see, and call the police immediately if they see any suspicious activity.”
Any highway problem can be reported at www.lancashire.gov.uk using the online ‘report it’ tool, email enquiries@lancashire.gov.uk or call 0300 123 6701.
