THOUSANDS of road signs are being stolen by gangs who dress up as road contractors and sell the metal to scrapyards.

An abrupt rise in the value of aluminium has prompted the rapid disappearance of signposts across Britain, causing, in some cases, chaos on roads.

In March the price of the metal rocketed to a ten-year high of $2,016 (£1,068) a tonne. A 20kg sign will fetch about £14.

Although thieves have shown a predilection for the chevrons that indicate sharp bends on roads — their size makes them more valuable — police are also concerned about the systematic destruction of motorway monitoring systems, which are encased in aluminium cupboards. Cities such as Manchester are facing bills in excess of £500,000 a year to repair the damage.

Although the Highways Agency denied the problem had spread nationwide, police want an investigation into the scale of the crimewave. They suspect that gangs of thieves are scouring the country for aluminium signs.

“Anyone can get a white van and an orange light on the top to do anything they like with the signs,” Chief Inspector Ian Lomax, head of the motorway unit at Greater Manchester Police, said. “People are being reckless because they think they can make a quick buck, but lives are being put at risk.

“We want to know who is doing this, and part and parcel of that investigation is finding out what they are doing with the signs.”

Usually the preserve of drunken students seeking bedsit decoration, the theft of road signs has become an unwelcome phenomenon. In an effort to fight back, some councils have resorted to ordering signs made of plastic or an unsaleable alloy. Yet even the tin substitutes being affixed to the thoroughfares of Newcastle continue to vanish. Thieves, often working at night, have apparently been unable to differentiate between the metals.

In Sheffield, South Yorkshire, and Newark, in Nottinghamshire, the substitutes, which have only a third of the lifespan of aluminium, have been accompanied by notices that read: “This sign is not aluminium. They are steel and have no scrap value.”

People in the Essex village of Epping Green have been stunned by the disappearance of more than 200 signs, including one bearing the name of the village. The Rev Chris Bard said of the Epping Green name sign: “They’ve stolen our identity, not just bits of aluminium. It’s like the war; people don’t know where they are.”

The city of Manchester has had £250,000 of signage stolen since January. Police throughout the North West have issued more than 2,000 identification badges to road workers and now regularly perform spot checks.

One scrap metal dealer in Manchester said that he had been approached by travellers who had scouted for roadsigns in a highly equipped van.

“They have all the gear to take the signs down and then they try and sell them on,” he said. “We don’t take them any more, we’ve had the police around and we won’t have people selling road signs around here any more.”

Gangs target areas where they can approach the motorway from neighbouring roads or fields, to avoid stopping conspicuously on the hard shoulder.

Andrew Banyard, head of AA signs, said: “There are parts of the country that do have a big problem, although it’s hard to pin them down because the problem moves around.

“It’s a big road safety issue. Where the signs are being stolen for their scrap value, clearly people are looking at taking large signs.

“They have been put there for a reason, so if they are not in place, it’s a big health and safety problem.”

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