Rishton residents brassed off by door knocker thefts

8:50am Tuesday 11th November 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

SCRAP metal thieves have turned their attention to a new target – brass door knockers.

The high price of scrap metal has resulted in cars, sculptures, road grates, telephone poles, lead roofing and even parts of train tracks being stolen in recent months.

And now thieves have stolen eight brass door knockers from Commercial Street and Lord Street, Rishton.

Police are carrying out house-to-house inquiries and are investigating whether it is part of a wider spate of thefts.

Sergeant Stuart Banks, of Great Harwood police, said: “We have been made away of this by members of the public and we are investigating.

“We will be carrying out house to house inquiries and look into whether is CCTV in the area.

"The metal is not worth very much but we will investigate whether other areas have similar problems.”

Anne Barter, 73, of Commercial Street, said: “I noticed sometime last week that my door wasn’t rattling.

"When I had a look I noticed the knocker was missing.

“It is an unusual thing to steal. They have managed to take the bar without damaging the holes around the door knocker itself.

“It is made of brass so could be used for scrap metal but then it could be kids. It’s a bit of a shock that it’s gone.”

But Rob Jackson, 24, of Commercial Street, said: “My door knocker was missing before I moved into the house in April.”