UK manufacturer signals end of the line for copper cable thieves

YORK, U.K. - April 18, 2013 - PRLog -- Reports in the UK press this week have highlighted a dramatic reduction in the incidents of copper cable thefts from railways, and now a North Yorkshire manufacturer claims to have developed a means of completely eradicating the problem.

At its peak, cable theft was estimated to cost the UK economy £770million per annum. And even now, after a major crack down by the British Transport Police (BTP), which has been aided by £5million of Home Office funding, there were 2,700-hours of delays and compensation payments of over £12.7million in the 12-months to April 2013.

Ellis has designed and developed a tamper proof cleat that its managing director, Richard Shaw says will stop thieves in their tracks.

“The biggest issue with this crime is the ease and speed with which thieves are able to disconnect and remove long lengths of copper cable,” he said.

“The BTP action has aimed to cut off the route to market by banning cash payments by scrap metal dealers in England and Wales and increasing fines for offences under the Scrap Metal Dealers Act, but while the crime remains relatively simple the problem will remain.”

Ellis’ tamper proof cable cleat is designed to make removing copper cables nigh on impossible. Its box design makes the job of detaching the cleat from the cable it is securing laborious and time consuming, while the requirement to fit the cleats at regular intervals along cable lengths means thieves will simply not have the time to remove cables before the police arrive.

“Quite often the best solution to a problem is the simplest and our tamper proof cleat is certainly a simple, but effective deterrent,” added Richard.

“By delivering a great level of security, both in terms of the strength and number of the fixings, we are confident that it will help bring an end to copper cable theft.”

Ellis is the world’s leading manufacturer of cable cleats – a product that is used to ensure electrical cables remain secure in the case of a short circuit. It will officially launch its tamper proof cleat at the Railtex Exhibition at Earls Court, London at the end of this month. For further information visit www.ellispatents.co.uk or call 01944 758395
ENDS


Note to editors:
Based in the North Yorkshire village of Rillington, Ellis is a British manufacturer that leads the world in cable cleats. It exports to 23-countries via a global network of approved distributors and enjoys widespread UK success. Recent installations include National Power’s London Powers Tunnel, the Sydney Rail Network in Australia, a hydro-accumulative power plant in Russia and the Gwynt-y-more wind farm in North Wales.

The company’s primary markets are offshore, power and utilities.