'Stone thieves are stealing our street's history'

On an old cobbled street in a market town, residents say hundreds of years of history are disappearing before their eyes as thieves keep stealing large slabs of Yorkshire stone.

West Wells Road in Ossett, which once carried the iron-rimmed wheels of medieval carts, is part of the town's original road network.

But over several months, criminals have stripped the pavement bit by bit, leaving behind "huge, unsightly craters" - before profiting from the high prices the distinctive textured flags can fetch.

Resident Mandy Greenwood said: "The road is meant to outlive me, not me the road, but if this carries on there will be nothing left to protect."

Figures from West Yorkshire Police revealed a year-on-year rise in the number of reported thefts involving some kind of stone.

Between March 2023 and March 2024, there were 168 such incidents across the force area.

The following year, from March 2024 to March 2025, that had risen by more than 50% to 256.

The data showed that in most cases, police were unable to find those responsible.

Residents said the issue had "ramped up" over the past nine months, despite occasionally happening over the years.

In many instances, thieves have struck in the middle of the night, taking more and more stone each time.

Mrs Greenwood said: "What's left are huge craters.

"One of the latest thefts was right outside our door and when you wake up in the morning to see these big gaping holes, it's really frustrating and upsetting."

Because the road is unadopted, Wakefield Council does not maintain West Wells Road. Responsibility for its repair and upkeep lies with the residents instead.

However, Mrs Greenwood said more help was needed from authorities to stop thieves striking in the first place.

The 47-year-old added: "This is such an important part of the town's history and it's just vanishing.

"As well as the historical aspect, it's used as a thoroughfare down to a walking and cycling path so on a weekend especially, there's a lot of footfall.

"My fear is now in the darker months, that this is causing a hazard to pedestrians and they're not going to see the dip there and then if something happens, that's a worry for us."

Anne-Marie Fawcett, founder of Ossett Through the Ages, said she was "deeply concerned and disappointed" by the thefts.

She said that as one of the few surviving remnants of Ossett's early trade network, the street offered "a direct connection to the town's agricultural and pre-industrial heritage".

"These losses damage the fabric of the town's history and effectively strip away pieces of its tangible past," she said.

With Yorkshire stone selling for up to £70 per metre, one stonemason in Huddersfield said the appeal was down to its high value and durability.

Graham Shelton, owner of KGS Stone Specialists, said: "It's like an antique.

"They don't make old stone flags anymore - they make new ones, but it takes hundreds of year for them to be old."

Mr Shelton said thieves often targeted "empty streets or derelict houses", adding: "It's like a jigsaw puzzle - they take the best ones.

"A lot gets exported to London. There's a high demand for it there, so it goes for extortionate prices."

Councillor Duncan Smith, who represents Ossett and Gawthorpe, said he was working with residents on ways to prevent more thefts.

"It's disgusting because people are seeing the history of Ossett disappear before their eyes," he said.

He added the authority was "limited legally" about what it could do, but was looking to support residents "the best way we can".

The Labour councillor said he had recently applied for funding for smart water marking, which would make any stolen stone traceable.

Joe Jenkinson, Wakefield Council's service director for planning, transportation and strategic highways, said the council was aware of the problem, but it was a "private matter" because of the road's unadopted status.

He added: "People must be able to access their properties at all times and so closing the road is unlikely to be an option.

"We would encourage residents to report thefts to the police."

Meanwhile, Historic England said such thefts caused "irreversible damage to our shared cultural legacy".

Mark Harrison, head of heritage crime, said the organisation was working with the National Police Chiefs' Council to tackle the growing threat of historic stone theft.

He added: "These crimes not only destroy the fabric of historic sites but also fuel an illicit trade that undermines communities and heritage protection efforts."

The historic Leeds suburb of Roundhay, where many streets were laid out in the 19th Century, has experienced longstanding issues with paving stone theft - with some residents even claiming that brazen thieves were posing as legitimate road workers to remove the stones at leisure.

Leeds Civic Trust, which has also campaigned on the issue, said the locally-quarried, distinctive stone flags were often taken from Victorian neighbourhoods such as Headingley, Oakwood, Pudsey and Chapel Allerton.

The organisation said that in one instance, a strip of stones was removed on Claremont Grove in Woodhouse by thieves who used stolen highways signage to allow them to work without attracting suspicion.

The trust added a clampdown on merchants reselling stolen stone could be achieved via a licensing scheme similar to that imposed on scrap metal dealers.

West Yorkshire Police urged anyone with information on the thefts to get in touch.

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