THIEVES left motorists at risk when they stole roadside gully grates on a country road.
At least six grates were taken by thieves in a battered old Ford Transit van on Barnsley Road, Denby Dale.
The culprits are thought to be trying to cash in on rising scrap metal prices.
Other stolen manhole covers are sold to collectors interested in vintage examples stretching back many decades, and some have found their way into second-hand shops.
And the thefts are angering heritage campaigners.
Hundreds of metal drain lids have been stolen in places as far apart as Norfolk, Wales and Aberdeen.
London, in particular, has been badly hit by hole cover thieves.
Shock new figures reveal the London Borough of Newham had 227 gully gratings and 35 manhole covers stolen. The bill for replacing them was £60,000.
National estimates show that the price for a ton of scrap has gone up from £40 to £140 in four years.
Missing manhole covers in China have been blamed for the deaths of eight people who have fallen down the unprotected holes.
In India, thieves have stolen about 10,000 from the roads of Calcutta.
The Denby Dale theft happened at about 9pm on Tuesday.
