Plant left teeteringover railway line

A piece of heavy machinery was left teetering over a railway track in Londonderry after would-be thieves crashed it through a fence at the Strathfoyle sewerage plant.
By Staff Reporter
Published 23rd Sep 2014, 12:15 BST
The damage caused during the attempted theft of an excavator at the site of the Strathfoyle Wastewater Pumping Station.The damage caused during the attempted theft of an excavator at the site of the Strathfoyle Wastewater Pumping Station.
The damage caused during the attempted theft of an excavator at the site of the Strathfoyle Wastewater Pumping Station.

Grahame Millar from NI Water commented: “During the break in, there was an attempted theft and operation of an excavator within the site.

“The excavator had its shutters removed and was started and driven within the site but came to rest after driving through the permanent security fence at the site.

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“The most serious part of this incident is the fact that the security fence is very close to the top of a steep embankment with a railway track at the base of it. Luckily, the excavator came to rest after crashing through the fence and stopped within 5m of tumbling down the embankment and onto the track.”

Mr Millar said vandalism was an all-too-common and costly occurrence.

‘We are also very worried about the risks to personal safety. NI Water takes all reasonable steps to ensure the safety of our sites, but we would point out that our working sites should only be accessed by trained and qualified personnel.

“I would call on those who are involved in vandalism and unauthorised access to stop immediately before they cause injury to themselves or a severe incident in their own local community.

“Anyone who is aware of acts of vandalism can report the incident to the PSNI on 0845 600 8000, or you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111,” he said.

Related topics:NI WaterPSNI