Police are hunting thieves who are stripping Yorkshire stone walls.

Among the cases they are investigating is the theft, piece by piece, of a wall outside a blind 90-year-old man's home in Allerton, Bradford.

Frank Hall, of Haworth Road, awoke to find thieves had stolen seven coping stones - cut, flat Yorkshire stone measuring up to four inches thick - from the top of his garden wall.

And a week later, the thieves returned in the middle of the night for the rest, also taking stones from his next-door neighbour's wall and his daughter's house, two doors down.

Mr Hall said it would cost nearly £1,000 to replace the wall which surrounds his terraced cottage.

"It takes about two people to carry these stones, '' said Mr Hall.

"People must be taking them to give to somebody who's put them up to it - they're too big to carry about."

And his daughter, Susan Town, said the area was usually quiet and did not suffer many burglaries.

"The walls are made of old Yorkshire stone - it's quite expensive, but you can buy it. It's got to be somebody that's got a lot of clout, with trolleys and heavy men."

Community and race relations officer Roy Wensley, of Toller Lane Police, said theft of stones in the district tended to be seasonal.

"They go from all over the area in fits and starts," he said. "But it's always difficult to trace this sort of theft as there's always somebody willing to take it without asking questions."

He added that a similar spate of thefts had occurred in the area at the end of last year and advised residents to keep a lookout for vehicles being used to carry the stone away.

In January, stone thieves also struck at Windhill and Shipley town centre while in November Brighouse Cemetery was targeted by raiders who took 22 grave edging stones.

In 1998 the problem was so bad in the Saltaire and Bingley areas that Bingley police formed a new squad to tackle it, and succeeded in making some arrests.

Police advice to householders is to mark their stones with indelible paint so that they have a better chance of recovering it if stolen.

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