Thousands of road signs are being stolen by gangs who dress up as road contractors and sell the metal to scrapyards.

An abrupt rise in the value of aluminium has prompted the rapid disappearance of signposts across Britain, causing, in some cases, chaos on roads.
In March the price of the metal rocketed to a ten-year high of $2,016 (£1,068) a tonne. A 20kg sign will fetch about £14.