Kirklees Council promise court action after grit and 60 grit bins stole

COUNCIL bosses have promised to get tough with grit thieves.

They have been plagued with thefts from grit bins placed on streets across Huddersfield.

Not only are people helping themselves to sacks full of grit – in 60 cases, they have actually stolen the bins themselves!

And that’s cost the council more than £6,000 to replace them.

Now they have warned the culprits: we will get you into court.

People have been seen pulling up in vehicles alongside the bins and shovelling the grit into sacks and bags before driving away with them.

In the past few weeks, 60 of the bins have been taken from streets in Huddersfield, Holmfirth, Dewsbury and Batley.

Now a Kirklees cabinet member is promising firm action against grit thieves.

Clr David Sheard, cabinet member for highways, said that after the coldest December on record since 1910, Kirklees Streetscene has already used over 12,000 tonnes of grit/salt with January and February still to go.

He said Kirklees stocked up with 25,000 tonnes following supply issues last year, but have been faced with an increasing number of grit thefts across the region.

“Unfortunately we are seeing more and more incidents of theft where the contents of grit bins, and sometimes the bins themselves, are being stolen.

“We have witness accounts where people turn up in a pickup, bag the grit and steal the bin.

“We have also had break-ins at one of our salt storage depots.

“The whole idea of having grit bins across Kirklees is for people to use that grit on steep roads and pavements or somewhere narrow where the gritters can’t reach.

“We will actively work with the police to bring these people to justice if we receive any evidence but, more importantly, if the grit is stolen it cannot be used by those who really need it in the local community.

“At the end of the day it is taxpayers’ money that is being stolen, on top of the inconvenience being caused to the communities it affects.”

It costs councils about £160 a tonne to buy the grit that they spread on the roads, meaning Kirklees has a bill of about £400,000.