In Lytham, near Blackpool, thieves have been stealing Victorian stone finials from residential gateposts and selling them to reclamation yards for anything up to £400 a pair. In a new police-backed scheme, a forensic marking product has been helping home-owners protect their property from theft.
Depending on the age, material and size of the finial, they can be worth around £400 each and have been sold for cash by thieves to reclamation yards.
On returning home from a recent shopping trip, local resident John Searancke, said he was dismayed to discover that one of the Victorian finials on the wall at the front of his property had been stolen.
Mr Searancke said: “I was amazed to find that the stone finial had been stolen in broad daylight, the thieves were completely brazen.”
Lytham’s Neighbourhood Policing Team is now working with Fylde Borough Council to reduce the number of thefts of stone gate finials.
The council has been distributing forensic marking SelectaDNA kits to residents to use on their property. Each kit contains a bottle of the SelectaDNA formula, which consists of an ultraviolet tracer and a unique DNA code.
The clear liquid can be applied by home-owners to the underside of the finial to identify it as belonging to their property. If it is stolen and later recovered by police, the finial can be scanned and traced back to a particular property via the DNA marking.
James Brown, sales director at Selectamark, which produces SelectaDNA, said: ”If a finial is marked with SelectaDNA and is subsequently stolen, the criminal is instantly linked to the crime scene if he handles the marked goods. It also acts as a strong deterrent to thieves, as marked goods are extremely difficult to sell on. ”
Bryan Ward, community safety manager for the Community Safety Partnership at Fylde Borough Council, said: “We are delighted to be providing these kits to residents in Lytham. Clearly we want to reassure the public that everything possible is being done to prevent this type of activity occurring again.”
Picture caption: Lytham PC Dawn Conolly-Perch, homeowner John
Searancke, neighbour David Miller, and Community Safety Manager (Fylde Council) Bryan Ward stand beside the post from where the stone finial was stolen.
