An MP is celebrating pushing through a law that will see whole-scale reform of the £5.6bn scrap metal industry.

Richard Ottaway, MP for Croydon South, saw his Scrap Metal Dealers Bill receive its third reading in the House of Lords last week.

The bill, which calls for a crackdown on metal theft and the desecration of war memorials, will now become law after completing all stages of Parliament.

Mr Ottaway said: "Today marks a significant victory for communities throughout the country. For too long they have provided rich feeding grounds for opportunistic thieves who know they can get rid of stolen metals at rogue or negligent scrap yards.

"Metal theft is no petty crime. It hits at the heart of our daily lives – grinding trains to a halt, cutting off power supplies to hospitals and other lifelines, stripping roofs off churches and schools at huge public expense.

Even more sickening are the attacks on our crematoriums and war memorials commemorating the nation’s war dead. It is particularly fitting therefore that this Bill will be made law this year, in time for the centenary of the First World War."

The bill, which won overwhelming cross-party support from MPs, will mean scrap metal dealers must provide verifiable indentification at point of sale and must be listed on a publically available register.

Councils will be able to revoke the licences of rogue dealers and impose unlimited fines.