Man arrested at Stratton church (From Swindon Advertiser)

Man arrested at Stratton church

9:40pm Thursday 3rd July 2008 in

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Police have arrested a man following an incident at Upper Stratton Baptist Church in the early hours of Tuesday 1st July.

In common with a number of other churches and other organisations, the Green Road church has suffered a spate of metal thefts in recent months. They have installed a number of CCTV cameras and volunteers from the church monitor them regularly in the hope of catching the culprits.

Police were called when a man was spotted on the cameras, acting suspiciously on the church premises. They arrived quickly, arresting a man nearby within a few minutes of the call from a volunteer, who was monitoring the cameras remotely.

"We are determined to stamp out these thefts and the expensive damage associated with them" said a spokesman from the church. "Sadly, criminals seem to regard church buildings as easy targets - they need to understand they are not" he said. "We hope this arrest will send a clear signal to others that we take this issue seriously."

Sadly, criminals seem to regard church buildings as easy targets – they need to understand they are not

USBC Spokesman

There have been several incidents of lead theft from USBC in the last few months and whilst the lead stolen was only worth a few hundred pounds the damage caused to the church roof adds up to several thousands. Across the town many other churches, charities and businesses have suffered similar thefts as the price of scrap metal has soared.

In addition to installing the CCTV cameras, the church has treated its' lead with Smartwater, a special forensic liquid that helps identify stolen metal.

Police investigations continue.