A recent spate of copper wire thefts around Invercargill urban sites is putting lives at risk according to local network management company PowerNet.

Thieves risk electrocuting themselves and endangering the public through electrocution and fire by tampering with electricity network equipment in their search of copper earth wire, PowerNet said.

Earth equipment provides electrical protection, without which it exposes people and property to unnecessary risk.

PowerNet's HSE and Field Training Manager, Brett Coradine, says several equipment sites have been identified over the past week.

"We have had several sites on the Electricity Invercargill Ltd’s network where earth wire from active worksites and a zone substation had been removed, leaving electricity equipment

extremely unsafe."

"We have dispatched our PowerNet inspection teams based in Invercargill to check all network equipment in the area."

The faults teams will urgently repair any faults found.

"It is concerning that people are willing to risk their lives and the lives of those in our community for scrap metal that is worth very little in dollar terms," Coradine said.

PowerNet is appealing to the public for any information.