More than 600 metal gully grates have been stolen in Bradford in the past ten months at a cost of thousands of pounds to Bradford Council.

Since April, there have been 610 gully lids stolen across the district, which would have cost the authority £122,000 to replace directly.

However the majority were replaced with re-enforced plastic gullies instead, costing £70,000.

Earlier Council figures for the theft of gully lids show that in the previous 12 months 416 gullies were stolen at a cost of £48,000.

The figures come as Labour councillors call for urgent action to tackle the problem of metal theft and back national measures to crack down on the growing issue.

Councillor Sarah Ferriby will table a motion at next week’s full meeting of Council which would commit the authority to discussions with the police, the scrap metal trade and other stakeholders such as churches and energy companies, to determine what further measures can be taken to tackle the crime locally. Options include the potential for traders to sign up to a voluntary code of practice.

The party is also supporting policies in the Metal Theft (Prevention) Bill, under consideration by Parliament, including tougher sentences for offenders, greater powers for the police and local authorities to close scrap dealers down and a new licensing and enforcement regime.

Coun Ferriby (Wyke), a member of West Yorkshire Police Authority, said: “The problem is fast becoming a national scandal. At the last count metal theft was costing the Council alone around £100,000 a year but the costs to society and business are far higher.

“In our region metal theft has risen by 70 per cent in the last three years and cable theft on railways went up 83 per cent in a year.

“Increasingly thieves are targeting railways, energy installations, churches and even people’s homes.

“We have to find ways to make it harder both to steal metal in the first place and to sell it on.

“West Yorkshire Police are working hard on this and tougher powers to inspect premises, close down rogue dealers and impose harsher penalties will assist them. This is why we are supporting the introduction of national measures but, until they are in place, we should look locally at whether or not we are all doing everything that we can.”

Coun Ferriby is hoping for cross-party support for the motion, which will be debated at the meeting on Tuesday, January 24, which begins at 4pm in City Hall.