How are organised crime groups flouting the rules to sell church roof metal?

Police say organised crime groups may be getting around laws brought in to stop metal theft by selling stolen metal abroad.

Over the summer tens of churches were hit in our region including the church at Great Brington in Northamptonshire, the family church of Princess Diana, where £35,000 worth of lead was recently stripped from the roof.

Today the police, security experts and members of the church community have been at a conference at Althorp House, the Spencer family home.

In 2013 the Scrap Metal Dealers Act was introduced to try to stop metal theft. Under the Act all dealers must have a license and keep records on who buys metal from them.

Cash payments to mobile scrap collectors are also banned. Since then the LGA (Local Government Authority) says metal theft has dropped in the South East, from 60,000 to 40,680 in 2013/2014.

But the police warn that thieves could be getting around the new laws by taking metal out of the UK ports in the East of England, as well as the North.

Often churches only find out that lead has been taken when water leaks through the roof, causing thousands of pounds of damage inside.

Gravestones and windows are also damaged by thieves trying to get onto roofs.

Police warned this morning that gangs are targeting churches near major roads like the A14 and the M11, and that all churches should fit roof alarms.

Click below to watch the full report from ITV News Anglia's Olivia Kinsley