Thieves have been operating in the area around Ramsgate train station

by Martin Jefferies

A crackdown on cable thieves who gamble with their lives by targeting the railway is being launched in Thanet.

Extra officers from British Transport Police (BTP) will patrol the area around Ramsgate train station after a string of recent thefts.

They will also visit scrap yards, where the majority of thieves look to sell stolen goods, to see whether they have bought cable or metal from criminals.

Det Sgt Leigh Marshall from BTP warned that cable theft is not only illegal – it can be dangerous too.

He said: "We want to send a clear message that targeting the railway to steal cable could lead to fatal consequences.

"Anyone who seeks to steal railway cable risks serious injury – or even death – through electrocution and, because of where the cable is situated, faces the prospect of being struck by a train."

Cable theft has cost the rail industry more than £40 million over the last three years, according to Network Rail.

Dave Ward, the company's route managing director for Kent, said the cost of the latest vandalism in Ramsgate is "likely to run well into the hundreds of thousands of pounds".