Up to £1,000 reward for information on cable thieves

Crimestoppers and Openreach are appealing for information after thieves ‘maliciously’ damaged communications cables along the A2200 between the junctions of Pelham Drive and Broadfield Drive, a Crimestoppers spokesman said.

The vandalism happened between the hours of 4pm and 6pm on Tuesday April 4.

The damage left homes and businesses without use of their phone lines, broadband and TV services.

Openreach engineers worked around the clock to restore services to those customers that were affected, the spokesman said.

He added: “These incidents cause major disruption to people and something we see far too often in different parts of the UK.

“A reward is available for anyone offering information that leads to the conviction of the person or people responsible for this crime.

“Anyone who contacts us can do so completely anonymously.”

Openreach uses a number of security measures to protect its network, including its alarm technology Rapid Assessment BT Incident Tracker (RABIT).

The RABIT system was activated, resulting in the police being alerted.

Bernie Auguste, general manager of Security Services for Openreach, said: “These incidents have impacted on the day to day life of the people of Crawley.

“We are working closely with Sussex Police to bring the people responsible for these crimes to justice.

“We have deployed additional security enhancements within the area, but we also need your help.

“Please be vigilant and if you saw anything suspicious on or around the time of the incident then please contact the charity Crimestoppers anonymously, or contact the police.”

If anyone has any information on this incident please contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or through the Anonymous Online Form here.

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