Councillor welcomes SmartWater to stop theft of copper wires

Councillor Sarah Holland, Liberal Democrat Eastcotts Ward, this week welcomed a move by BT to halt the increasing problem of the theft of copper wires from the telephone system. BT will now be using SmartWater, a new technology that is invisible to the human eye but sticks to the thief and can be traced to the specific site where the theft took place.

Cllr Holland said, "This is a very welcome move to safeguard the communication lines in rural Bedfordshire. Earlier this year copper wires were stolen near Shortstown and it meant part of the village was cut off from access to emergency services and the outside world, if you didn't have a mobile phone. This could have been life threatening so anything that stops the thieves from putting lives at risk is welcomed by local people here."

As copper prices began to rise the threat of such thefts increased. Cllr Holland is also campaigning to improve broadband access in rural areas and is hoping that BT will speed up their improvements to internet access as this means there will be more fibre optics used which have no real value for thieves.