Subscribe to this blog's feedIt is hard to believe the risks thieves will take to steal copper electricity cable - even it is carrying 11kV at the time. Gas networks are not immune to this madness either - Northern Gas Networks tells Disconnector of two cases of copper pipes running from external meters being cut and stolen in West Yorkshire.
Gas was left pouring out of the severed pipes in both instances and it was only luck that the escapes were spotted before there was an explosion.
While the risk to the thieves nicking gas pipe are clearly lower than for the nutcases who hacksaw through live power cable, in one of these cases of gas pipe theft there may have been some rough justice heading the way of the miscreants. It turned out the house involved was a cannabis farm, and the owners would no doubt like to have a quiet word with whoever exposed their lucrative but highly illegal activity for the sake of few quid's worth of copper pipe.
