House of worship installs monitoring station to stamp out crime

A Harlesden church is leading the way in stamping out crime through an innovative new design set to combat a spate of thefts which have blighted the country.

All Souls Church in Station Road has installed a monitoring station on their roof to ensure that the church is safe from lead thieves who have targeted churches across the country.

Father Michael Moorhead, who has been at the church told the Times why they decided to install the system after thieves targeted the church due to it having a flat roof.

He said: “Most of the lead on our roof is inaccessible but there is part of our church that’s on a flat roof and we have had a few instances of lead being stolen.

“Theft is something that’s been a problem for a while so we thought we should try and stamp it out.”

The system, which was fitted last summer, has a 24-hour CCTV camera on the roof which is linked to a monitoring station.

When a thief is spotted on the roof an alarm will sound and alert the police to the incident.

Father Moorhead continued: “We had the option of replacing all the lead with a fake substance but we would rather retain the originality and tackle it in this way.”

“It’s made a lot of difference and I would recommend others try it as well.”

Lead theft has seen a rise in recent years with many churches targeted as thieves try to profit from selling it on.