METAL theft in Gwent cost local authorities at least £241,516 in the last two years with two Valleys councils seeing bills rise by as much as four times.

Metal theft at Torfaen council cost the council £23,554 in 2009/10 – but that figure more than quadrupled to £106,750 in 2010/11.

The council said a further £64,000 worth of thefts have been committed since the end of the 2010/11 financial year.

Meanwhile Caerphilly council saw its metal theft bill rise from £30,993 to £129,766 over the same period.

Newport reported it saw £5,000 worth of thefts of street light cable in 2010/11, up from £4,000 in 2009/10.

Monmouthshire said metal thefts had not cost them anything for the last four financial years, while Blaenau Gwent had no costings for metal thefts for 2009/10 or 2010/11.

Both Torfaen and Caerphilly councils say they are attempting to protect their property with invisible SmartWater liquid.

Each bottle of SmartWater has a unique code that can be traced, meaning the police can now stop anyone they see carrying metal and scan it for the liquid.

A Torfaen spokesman said that use of the technology has already led to the arrest of several alleged metal thieves.

He added that the majority of the thefts in Torfaen concerned lead, although copper had also been taken.

Caerphilly councillor Rob Gough, cabinet member for public protection, said: “Metal theft is a serious crime and one that is extremely costly to rectify.”

Cllr Gough said SmartWater means the council is able to send out a clear message to thieves that they are running a very high risk of being caught and convicted for their crimes.

“We want to see a clear reduction in this type of crime in our county borough and are taking sizeable steps to ensure that this is the case,” he added.