Cheshire Police have charged four men, two aged 32 a 31-year-old and a 29-year-old, all from the Tameside area of Greater Manchester, with offences related to alleged illegal metal detecting at protected heritage sites.
thePipeLine understands that the charges follow a joint investigation by Cheshire Police and Historic England into the alleged unauthorised use of metal detectors and theft of artefacts, at a number of sites in Cheshire and Yorkshire.
The investigation led to police raids on a number of homes in Thameside in 2020.
A Tweet issued on the Historic England Heritage Crime account associated the charges with the organisation’s ongoing Operation Chronos which was launched in July 2015 and which sees Historic England working with regional police forces to target illegal metal detecting. Investigations are supported by Historic England’s regional teams and the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
The 31 year old man charged is also charged with an offence relating to the Class B drug cannabis.
The men will appear at Chester Magistrates Court on 9 April.
