AN Oldbury scrap metal dealer has been jailied for two years after a tip off to police searching for £81,000 of stolen steel found half the load in his yard.

Lee Stanley, who ran Oldbury Metal Recycling, Parsonage Street, was part of a gang of seven involved in the heist from a Kingswinford firm.

Wolverhampton Crown Court was told how the brazen gang unloaded two wagons full of metal that had been left by Mid Steel Sections, then re-loaded the vehicles with the higher value foreign metal.

They also used the firm's overhead crane and flatbed lorries to carry out the theft over two days, taking the flat Russian made steel and two DAF wagons in five lorry loads.

Following a tip-off days after the theft, a search warrant was carried out at Stanley’s scrap metal business where half of the stolen metal was found neatly stacked but hidden under a mound of trolleys and other scrap metal.

Examination of CCTV showed three loads of the stolen metal being brought into his yard by a gang of six men. It also showed Stanley in his own crane hiding the 63 tons of metal, valued at £44,000,underneath scrap.

The 38-year-old, admitted handling the stolen metal and a further charge of handling £21,000 worth of cut up beer barrels found during the police search.

Stanley had paid £12,000 for the Kingswinford metal while the rest of the haul - 47 tons worth £34,000 - was found in Manchester and traced back to Shrewsbury-based Jarvis Metals.

Owner Joe Jarvis denied handling stolen goods, but was found guilty, given a two-year jail sentence suspended for two years and ordered to pay £1,500 costs.

PC Simon Andrews, from Brierley Hill Police Station, said: "The gang carried out a slick burglary operation without causing any damage to the premises. Fortunately, the disposal of the metal was not as sophisticated as they had planned for.

"I hope these sentences send a clear message to owners of metal yards that we will actively come into your yards, look through your books and arrest anyone who is not trading legally."

Police recovered all but two tons of the metal while the two lorries were found abandoned and undamaged in Telford.

Four other men were jailed for a total of 12 years for burglary and conspiracy to burgle and the seventh gang member, also convicted of conspiracy to burgle, will be sentenced next month.