The spiralling problem of metal theft was revealed today to be costing the region’s public bodies and private companies millions of pounds a year.

And organisations which operate in the Bradford district have been forced to employ a raft of measures to try to thwart the thieves.

Bradford-based Yorkshire Water yesterday revealed it has been fortifying its sites – including motion sensors, CCTV and guard-dog patrols – as its bill for replacing stolen metal has reached £20,000 a month.

Network Rail has also disclosed it paid out £1.2 million in compensation to train operators for delays from its Leeds depot between April and January.

And crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers said the cost to the Bradford district could well run further into the millions as it yesterday began a pilot campaign to tackle metal thefts across the county.

Crimestoppers regional manager Dave Hunter said: “I wouldn’t be surprised if the figure for that area exceeded £2 million and this is why we are encouraging the public to ring Crimestoppers anonymously.

“It can be devastating – even if you are looking at the low-level stuff, things like stealing grates have huge replacement costs.”

Yorkshire Water has said it faces a £410,000 annual bill from metal thefts across its region-wide network.

Peter Ramsay, the company’s security and emergency planning manager, said: “Metal theft is a serious issue for us and we’re trialling a number of new initiatives, including using fibreglass manhole covers, in our ongoing efforts to reduce it.

“The problem ranges from the opportunist theft of one of our sewer or hydrant covers, to the organised theft of hundreds of metres of cable or copper pipe, and even larger appliances such as lifting equipment and generators, with thieves targeting any metals which they consider of value, often risking their lives, and those of others, in the process.”

A Network Rail spokesman said: “Every day hundreds of passengers and essential freight deliveries are being disrupted and delayed by cable thieves.

“We are doing all we can to protect the network, investing about £2 million each year to fund extra British Transport Police officers, using CCTV, forensic marking techniques and other technology. To an extent our actions can help us manage the crimes – but we believe the only way to significantly reduce metal crime is to take away the illegal market.”

Meanwhile, the Diocese of Bradford has said thefts of metal from churches across the diocese over the last year has incurred costs of tens of thousands of pounds.

A spokesman said: “The figures are being collated centrally by the Churches Building Council, and while we don’t yet have precise figures for the Bradford Diocese the final sum for the last year may well be in the tens of thousands of pounds.”

Earlier this week, Bradford Council deputy leader Councillor Imran Hussain revealed the authority had paid more than £200,000 replacing gully covers alone although the authority was yesterday unable to reveal the full costs of metal thefts across all its departments.

Matthew Evans, business manager and a director at scrap dealers Crossley Evans, estimated about £50,000 of metal was stolen from its Shipley site each year.