By Conor Sharkey

STRABANE businesses are having to foot bills of thousands of pounds as a result of stock being stolen for Halloween bonfires, it emerged this week.

Trolleys stacked high with wooden pallets and tyres have become a regular sight across Strabane in recent weeks. And while it has long been regarded as Halloween high jinx, the tradition is now putting local factories and shop owners under serious financial pressure.

Both the PSNI and Strabane District Council have been inundated with complaints of young people breaking into premises and stealing pallets, tyres, doors and other materials. Earlier this month, plastic bag manufacturer Boran Mopack Ltd on the Ballycolman Road lost more than £1,500 in stock in just one night.

Speaking yesterday, Mopack Manager Cyril Doherty said the young bonfire collectors were putting both jobs and, more worryingly, their own safety at risk.

"We are tortured every year with this sort of thing, but this year, in one night alone, we lost 100 pallets out of here along with pallet trolleys and cages.

"The problem is a lot of this stuff ends up dumped in the golf course or on the road and I have to send men out to clear it up. I've had to put a man on duty around the perimeter fence too, just to keep the young boys out, so it is putting pressure on the man power in the factory. With the credit crunch already taking its toll, it is putting us in a difficult situation," Mr Doherty said.

The financial implications are not Mopack's main concern however, but the likelihood that someone is going to get seriously injured, Mr Doherty said.

"The young people have become so brazen that they are just coming into the factory with balaclavas on and goading the staff.

"A lot of our materials are quite dangerous and we use things like solvents, so we are worried that someone will be seriously hurt. What they are doing is crazy and we are doing all we can to stop them, but they just keep coming back.

"What we would say to parents is that we don't want any hurt but someone needs to put a curfew on these youngsters before there is a bad accident," he added.

Mr Doherty's concerns were echoed by the Chairman of Ballycolman Linkside Community Development Association Michael Conaghan who said parents needed to realise just what dangers young people are putting themselves in.

"I would ask parents to keep an eye on their children too, although I know just how difficult it can be to do that. But maybe parents aren't aware of just how dangerous some of these factories are and I'm sure if they were, they would tell their children to stay well clear," he said.