Cable thefts are making commuters’ lives a misery, reports BBC News.

The price of copper and other metals, which have sky rocketed in recent weeks, has brought rise to a spate of cable thefts; including those essential cables which help power the country’s rail network. Consequently, the thefts are having a major affect on businesses across the UK.

The British Transport Police said that “last month was the worst January ever for cable theft on railways.” 

The situation is so bad that British Telecom (BT) and the police, working in conjunction with scrap metal dealers, have formed a Metal Theft Taskforce to try and tackle the problem.

John Martin, from BT, told BBC News: “Often thieves will enter an underground system at night and cut all the cables. They don’t care about the effect it will have.”

This unfortunate phenomenon ought to prompt employers to examine their emergency contingency plans. A great time and money-saving solution is video conferencing services, which enable businesses to continue speaking with geographically-diverse colleagues and clients, without any travel worries. 

Some companies have video conferencing facilities available to hire by the hour, so with these sorts of sophisticated, flexible services, the effects of train delays and cancellations on businesses could be a thing in the past.