A HISTORIC waterworks has had its roof stripped of lead.

The repair bill at Tees Cottage Pumping Station, in Darlington, could cost thousands, while the raiders are likely to receive only a few hundred pounds scrap value for the lead.

Tees Cottage Pumping Station Society, the group of dedicated volunteers who maintain the Coniscliffe Road site, said the damage will not stop their next Easter weekend open day.

The theft happened overnight on Tuesday, when thieves forced their way in through an entrance before taking tiles from the roof and removing the lead.

It will now be repaired with a non-metallic material to deter future attacks.

The pumping station was built in 1849 to pipe water from the River Tees to households in Darlington and Teesside, which previously relied on wells and rainwater tubs. Other roofs within the waterworks have been targeted in the past and have all been repaired without the use of lead.

In 2008, a thief was given a conditional discharge after breaking in and taking a miniature train belonging to Cleveland Association of Model Engineers – used to pull trains for visitors on open days. He sold it for scrap.

A spokesman for the society said: “It is very sad that such destruction should be caused to this important monument to Victorian and Edwardian engineering for the sake of – at best – a couple of hundred pounds’ worth of lead.

“The repair of this damage will certainly cost several times the profit of the thieves.

“It is not the first theft of roof lead from this site.

“After previous thefts, we quickly replaced the stolen lead with non-metallic material, as we shall now do again.

No lead now remains on site.

“No machinery has been damaged, and the incident will not affect our ability to open to visitors as usual, to see the machines working, commencing with Easter Sunday and Monday.”

Anyone with any information about the theft is asked to contact police on 0345-60- 60-365.