Pikey Express!

At £0.17/kilo for "light iron" nowadays (that's basically anything thinner than about 1/4") even a dead dishwasher or fridge is worth about £8 at the scrappies. If you have one close enough so the petrol cost doesn't outweigh the scrap value it's worth taking a run in the van. It's certainly more than enough to get pikies interested. I'm just surprised they asked first.

Here's a surprising fact. At current scrap prices the scrap value of old cast iron gutters and downpipes is not so far off the new price of replacement plastic ones. The net cost to a roofing contractor is basically zero. Old radiators are worth a few quid each. Pikies have nicked aluminium road signs for ages as its worth close to £800 a ton but it's now worth sawing down the steel posts too. Pretty soon nothing made of metal that's unattended will actually be safe anymore. Next time your bike gets nicked they'll also take the chain and padlock they cut off.

Happened with my brother's old bath in London. Propped it up against the railings. The workman went back indoors to get some more stuff, specifically the feet for it, but by the time he got back outside, the bath was gone. They never came back for the feet.

It worked just as well with the brand new bath which the plumber broke by tightening up the feet too much such that the enamel pinged off the inside. That one took a bit longer -- we think about half an hour, probably because of the obvious damage.

Dave Baker wrote in

It's all about reducing knife crime.

As soon as we reach a point at which the value of a knife at the scrappers is more than it's value in a mugging, hey presto, no more knife crime.

That's the free market at work.

He knocked and asked if he could take it? That doesn't sound much like pikeys. Or have they got a new code of conduct? ;-)

Didn't know she worked at Bletchley Park :-)

You could offer them signage for their vehicles. Medway Pikeyman. Better not make them magnetic or they'll be nicked by the Pikey Pikeys. Hmm that could be an infinite series....

Why won't the jobsworths at the tip allow in your van? It looks smart enough to me.

Damn. I just posted (another thread) about ceramic knives... :-(

(I doubt they have any scrap value beyond ultra-hard-core.)

Rod wrote in

...and thanks for not mentioning the apostrophe - I think I got away with it.

There are branches everywhere! Twenty years ago a customer of mine in South London, who had a TV and video rental business, put a stack of a dozen scrap Betamax VCR's out on the payment behind his shop while he went to fetch his van. By the time he got back they had all gone. After that he just put all the scrap TV's out for pikey collection. The service was fantastic with nothing left after an hour every time. I just wonder, as did he, why they kept taking them even though the scrap value was very low then.

Peter Crosland

Because they strip the bit that is ok and dump the rest. Shame it wasn't outside his shop so he didn't keep contributing to illegal tipping.

because they could!

Peter

Perhaps they realised that the quality of reproduction offered by Betamax was far superior to that offered by VHS, and they were merely taking the opportunity of upgrading their caravans' VCRs to Betamax.

;-)

Thats cos they are not pikeys at least by my definition of pikey**, they are upstanding gypsies who work for a living. When I was living in Bristol on a suburban backstreet, they would drive along the road about once a week, if they spotted scrap metal out front, they would always ring the bell to ask if they could have it. Often, house owners went to work leaving a note to 'help yourself'. The system worked very well.

Anna

-- Anna Kettle Lime plaster repair and conservation Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc Tel:    (+44)  01359 230642 Mob:  (+44)  07976 649862 Please look at my website for examples of my work at:

You must have a different type of pikey round your way. Here they'd just take it.

I think we are getting a better class of pikey here in Kent...

Probably signed up with Medway Fair Trader scheme :-)

I'm not quite sure why Medway trading standards require criminal records checks through Disclosure Scotland, though, and not the English equivalent.

Owain

They'll be along for your new one when you're out...

Lots of companies which are not in Scotland use Disclosure Scotland. They are one of the companies permitted to make CRB checks.

You've never spoken to my missus have you?

Oh tee hee. NO COMMERCIAL VERHICLES states the large sign next to the height barrier...

Was he driving a Hercules ?