Police have changed shift patterns and donned plain clothes as part of a blitz on Yorkshire stone thefts in Bradford The “costly” thefts in the city have also led police to recommend residents chisel or paint their postcode on slabs as a preventative measure.

Following concerns about recent stone thefts in Clayton, officers from North Bradford Neighbourhood Police Team adjusted shift and went undercover as criminals across the district continue to cash in on a stone shortage driven by the high cost of quarrying.

In an online discussion with residents, Sergeant Alex Artis said: “There have been some reports of Yorkshire stone (thefts) in Clayton and Thornton. Officers from your NPT changed shifts and worked in plain clothes over the last weekend to tackle this issue. We arrested three men in the early hours of the morning in possession of a number of tools.”

As the Telegraph & Argus reported in April, only two people were charged last year in connection with Yorkshire stone thefts in Bradford, despite more than 100 incidents being recorded.

However, West Yorkshire Police said the number of offences has dropped year on year, with 116 Yorkshire stone thefts, with two people charged, two cautions given and one penalty notice issued. The total amount of such thefts has more than halved from 343 in 2009.

Coun Michael Ellis (Con, Bingley), who called for a Government crackdown on stone thieves after a historic path in his ward was ripped up, welcomed police action to tackle the problem, but voiced concerns about marking stones.

He said: “It depends how they’re looking to do it. I’m not sure how it would work and if it was done by a stonemason it would be very costly.

“There have been problems with people stealing stone from a wall on Vale Mill Road in Haworth, which has now been marked with a red spray paint, but it doesn’t look very nice.

“You don’t want to see flags outside churches sprayed red and I’m not sure if you’d be able to mark stones from listed buildings.”

Coun John Godward (Lab, Great Horton) said Scholemoor Road in Lidget Green had been tarmacked after the theft of Yorkshire stone from the street. He said “The cost of replacing Yorkshire stone is so enormous you might as well pave the streets with gold. People get very angry about this and the cost hits the taxpayer.

“Quite often the people involved disguise themselves as Council workers to avoid detection.

“Because they look official they can pinch them in the daylight. If people ask them what they are doing they say they are taking away the stones away to see if they’re stolen, but they’re the ones stealing them.

“It’s dangerous and I welcome any police action to tackle this. I just hope it’s enough.”

Sgt Peter Hall, from the NPT, said: “The theft of Yorkshire stone is a high priority for local police and we are working hard to tackle the problem, including shift changes to ensure our officers are out in force in areas where we have seen incidents.

“Crime prevention work continues to play a large part in tackling this problem and I would urge people to mark any Yorkshire Stone they have and keep a record of it.

“This reduces its appeal to those who may attempt to steal it and makes it easier for us to prosecute those involved as well as reuniting any stolen stone with its rightful owners.”

Anyone with information about stone theft should call police on 101.