Cable thief is caught on camera

This is the man police want to trace after he was caught red-handed on CCTV stealing cable from a railway line in Tipton.

A £1,000 reward is now being put up by rail bosses for any information which leads to his successful prosecution and conviction.

Officers from British Transport Police have released the CCTV image of the man they would like to speak to in connection with a series of thefts which took place in the Bloomfield Road area between May 20 and June 6.

Network Rail bosses are offering the reward in the hope that members of the public who recognise the man in the image will contact transport police with information. Detective

Constable Bill Rackham said: "Cable theft is a major problem for the rail industry, as it is for many other industries, and thefts can have a serious impact on track maintenance and the smooth running of the network.

"Those who attempt to steal cable are also putting their lives in serious danger by trespassing on the railway and also because of the high voltage that runs through live cable.

"BTP set up Operation Drum as a strategic response to the problem of cable theft. Patrols are being stepped up in problem areas and officers working closely with a number of agencies, including Network Rail and local authorities to address issues with scrap metal dealers."

Between April 2009 and April 2010 there were 85 cable theft incidents across the West Midlands.

As a consequence, 462 trains were cancelled and other services were delayed for a total of 74,000 minutes.

Chris Rowley, Network Rail's area general manager, added: "We had to pay compensation of approximately £2million to the various train operators affected, and the cost of replacing the stolen cable was similar amount.

"That's £4million which in effect is wasted money that could otherwise have been used to improve the railway."