Crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers and partner Openreach (a BT Group Business) are appealing for information on an attempted telecommunications network cable theft that took place at Rotherhithe New Road, adjacent to Rotherhithe Business Park. [01 May 2012]

The incident occurred at 14:00hrs on Saturday 28th April, with the damage disrupting services to hundreds of residents and businesses over a wide local area.

Crimestoppers and Openreach began working together in February 2011 and since then have been encouraging the public to help stop malicious damage being caused to this vital national infrastructure by contacting the charity anonymously with information.

A Crimestoppers spokesperson said: “Cable theft is a crime that not only costs money, but creates considerable inconvenience to people living in the area affected and puts the lives of those committing the offence in danger.

Contact Crimestoppers

Those committing this crime should not be allowed to get away with this and I would urge anyone with information on who might have committed this offence to contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or through our secure online form at www.crimestoppers-uk.org

BT Security general manager for Cable Theft, Luke Beeson said: “This mindless attack on our network has left 100s of people without access to phone and internet connections. Engineers are working round the clock to repair the damage and restore service as quickly as possible. We would urge anyone who saw anything suspicious or knows anything about this attack to call Crimestoppers.”

The actions of cable thieves are completely indiscriminate and can often adversely affect the most vulnerable people in communities and disrupt life for others in so many ways. If you have any information about this incident, then please call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or fill in one of their anonymous Giving Information Forms on the website.

ENDS

For more information please contact BT’s regional press office on 0800 085 0660


NOTES TO EDITORS

•    Around 23 people are arrested and charged every day as a result of information given to Crimestoppers.

•    Since Crimestoppers began in 1988, it has received over a million actionable calls, resulting in over 113,000 arrests and charges. Over £122 million worth of goods has been recovered and over £223 million worth of drugs has been seized.

•    In 2005, Crimestoppers launched the UK’s Most Wanted on its website which allows the public to view images of criminals and pass on vital information about their whereabouts. It has been highly successful with over 1,000 arrests to date.

•    Crimestoppers UK was founded by Lord Ashcroft, KCMG, Chairman of Trustees. In 1988, he launched Crimestoppers in the Metropolitan Police area. Crimestoppers’ ‘call to action’ is built on a three-way partnership between the business community, the police and the media.