POLICE today warned businesses to be on their guard after a spate of thefts from companies that store large quantities of metal.

And one company boss has told how she has been left counting the cost after thieves stole thousands of pounds worth of valuable metal.

Police said the number of incidents was rising sharply after £8,000 of stock was taken from Read company Unicorn Precision Engineering last week.

And on Tuesday another break in occurred at SW Electrical Repairs Ltd, Ashley Street, Burnley, where copper worth more than £3,000 was taken.

Inspector Damien Darcy today said: "We are asking for businesses and scrap dealers to be aware and make sure they have sufficient security measures because we have had a number of thefts.

"As copper has gone up in price, thieves are going round targetting insecure premises and scraps.

"We are appealing for anyone with information about this incident to contact the police."

Lorraine Ward, partner of SW Electricals, said the robbery left them reeling as a substantial amount of their copper supplies was taken.

She said: "In the past six to eight months the price for copper has been very high, and these people know that we carry a stock.

"It has been detrimental to our business, although we are quickly replacing the copper. Our supplier told me that this sort of thing has been happening all over the country."

Anyone with information should call Burnley CID on 01282 425001 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.