Thieves Return To Plunder Quaker Lead Roof

SCRAP-metal thieves have raided a religious meeting house twice in two weeks, removing the lead from the roof of the building.

Members of the Quakers’ Friends Meeting House, in Church Hill, Winchmore Hill, N21, will need to spend more than £8,000 replacing stolen lead from the roof of the building, which was targeted in April and again earlier this month.

Neil Macindoe, who is a member of the Quaker group, said “They didn’t just take the lead from one area – there are different sections but in total around 12sq m were taken.

“We reported it to the police but I don’t think they are overly hopeful of catching them. Because it is a listed building we are going to have to apply for planning permission to repair the roof and we will also have to repair the damage caused by leaking – so in all we expect to pay at least £8,000 – half of it will come from our insurers and half will be paid for by local or central Quaker funds.”

John Hindmarsh, who is the caretaker of the building, added: “I have heard that this has been happening elsewhere in Winchmore Hill – to a school – and there has also been copper taken from a local library.

“When we called the police they gave us advice on how to prevent this in the future, so we are thinking of installing flood lighting and we are going to use Smartwater which means we would be able to trace the lead if someone does steal it.”

A spokeswoman for Enfield Police said: “Winchmore Hill Safer Neighbourhood team are aware of the thefts and have visited the premises, made enquiries and provided crime prevention advice. At this stage, no arrests have been made.”