SCRAP metal dealers in Huddersfield could be asked sign up to a code of conduct – to beat the thieves.

Kirklees Council is to become the first authority in Yorkshire to introduce a code of conduct to try and curb an alarming rise in metal thefts.

Kirklees Cabinet members are being asked to approve the code of conduct and help to tackle the issue on a local level.

Measures could include:

Metals will only be accepted from those whose ID has been/can be verified

Metals will not be accepted from customers on foot or arriving in taxis

All scrap metal dealers agree to work towards installing CCTV camera systems to West Yorkshire Police standards

All scrap metal dealers agree to work towards implementing cashless payments systems within 12 months

Council leader Clr Mehboob Khan and chief executive Adrian Lythgo are also working with Yorkshire and Humberside colleagues as Kirklees takes the lead in widening the scheme across the whole region.

If Cabinet members give their approval at a meeting on January 31, Kirklees Council will consult with scrap metal dealers about the voluntary code – and also take their campaign into a national forum, encouraging central government to bring in new legislation which helps councils and the police to enforce the code’s principles.

Clr Khan said: “It is absolutely clear that we have to find ways of combating scrap metal thefts, both inside Kirklees and on a wider national scale.

“Locally we have seen an increase in thefts and nationally we know that they have doubled over the last five years, having a major impact on communities, businesses, transport systems, hospitals, places of worship and even cemeteries and war memorials.

“We want local scrap metal dealers to sign up to a voluntary code and show the way in observing best practice for their industry”.

But Linthwaite scrap dealer Mark Schofield insists much is already being done.

All dealers keep a complete record of transactions as required by the Environment Agency.

And ones in Kirklees have already brought in a voluntary ban on customers arriving on foot, on cycles and in taxis.

“The problem is not the selling of the scrap, it is the stealing. That is where the emphasis needs to be so that people can be put before the courts”.