Homes go dark as gangs steal live cables

Gangs of thieves hunting for lucrative copper wiring are causing power outages by stealing the metal from live electricity cables.

The organised criminals are using hoists and cherry pickers to access the copper, which can fetch up to €5,000 a tonne on the scrap market.

Gardaí are investigating 12 thefts of power cables, all of which have taken place in the past three weeks.