The Brew Cabin

Hi,

I live in Bradford, West Yorkshire where a lot of the old paving and buildings are done in beautiful sandstone.

Unfortunately this material is very valuable and thefts are on the increase. Most of the pavements in my area have vanished over the past few months.

Has anyone got any suggestions for making flags etc harder to steal? Some people have resorted to painting their flags but this spoils them.


We've just had 14 yards of stone copings stolen from a wall. Replacement stone would cost around £500.

Hi Ian,

I suppose you've heard the apocryphal tale of the 'workmen' turning up one morning to lift all the yorkstone flags onto a lorry, only for the local residents to find out later, when they rang up the council to ask what had happened to the workmen, that they were actually nicking the stone!

Yorkstone theft is a serious problem, especially with it being so relatively valuable. The best way to deter would-be thieves is to make sure the joints are well pointed, as this makes it harder to lift, and to fit whatever external security devices you can - PIR lamps are useful.

One of our old clients had his yorkstone driveway nicked three times in less than 6 months, and he lived on a main road! In the end, the Insurance Co refused to cover him for Yorkstone, so they paid for him to have his driveway block-paved. It may be worth contacting your insurance co to see if you're covered.

A 'trick' we have used in the past is to paint our initials 'ajmc' onto the underside of the yorkstone we lay. Then, if it does get nicked, all the local dealers will know it's been laid by us, recently, and therefore is likely to be stolen. On two occasions, we've received a 'phone call telling us just who is trying to flog the contraband and where they were last sighted. :)

Also, notify the Police. If a 'spate' of robberies are reported in your area, they'll start pulling over suspiciously overweight Tranny vans travelling late at night.

The drive bandits are bad enough, but somewhere, there's a bent dealer, willing to pay beer vouchers for what they know is stolen paving. Until the Bobbies identify and close down these rogues, the bandits will continue to rob vulnerable paving.

Hi

Thanks for the prompt reply and advice, it is much appreciated.

I have great sympathy with your former client.

And yes, those tales of 'workmen' are true. They even nick the paths of churches.

http://www.championline.net/html/champn ... story=1596

I'll follow your advice as soon as possible.

I really want to put the theives off before the flags are nicked, as they're part of a house that's almost 200 years old.

I am considering etching my postcode and house number onto the surface of the flags. Although this will detract from their appearance, it may make them less attractive to thieves as they're easily identifiable as stolen.

Once again, thanks for your help,

All the best

Ian