Gangs target churches for heavy metal

By Luke Baker

LONDON (Reuters) - For years, the clergy have worried about falling church attendance. Now they're worried about a group who turn up too often -- thieves.

In the past year there has been a sharp hike in the theft of lead from church roofs, triggered by the price of the metal quadrupling on international markets.

At more than $3,500 (1,700 pounds) a tonne, lead has become a major target for organised gangs looking to sell on to scrap merchants who trade into the booming markets in China and India.

As a result, priests have turned up at churches to discover rainwater pouring through great holes in the roof after thieves stripped the heavy lead lining overnight.

"This trend of theft is pretty much unlike anything we've seen before," Chris Pitt of the Ecclesiastical Insurance Group, which insures churches, told Reuters on Tuesday.

"It's become a really serious problem and it's showing no signs at all of declining."

In 2005, Ecclesiastical handled just 80 claims for the theft of lead from the roofs of the 16,500 Anglican churches it insures in Britain. This year it has already handled 1,800 at a payout of more than 6 million pounds.

CRIME GANGS