Petrol thefts soaring say police

9:31am Sunday 17th August 2008

Comments (5)   Have your say »

POLICE say the number of drivers fleeing petrol stations without paying for their fuel has soared in the past year.

The figures for Bromley borough come as police continue to hunt for a fuel thief they believe has taken hundreds of pounds worth of petrol to sell on.

In the 12 months prior to July 31 there were 790 instances of drivers leaving the pumps without paying for their fuel - classed by police as "making off without payment".

During the same period the previous year there were 671 offences - 18 per cent less than current levels of the crime.

A yellow VW Golf was involved in 12 offences of making off without payment between July 24 and July 31.

The car was stolen from an address in Croydon on July 24 and filled up at petrol stations around the borough, including in Orpington, Mottingham and Chislehurst.

Each time the driver stole between £60 and £70 of fuel, sometimes filling up twice on the same day.

Police found the car in Upper Park Road, Bromley, on August 4.

A police spokesman said: "Due to the frequency and amount of fuel stolen within a short period of time, we believe the suspect was siphoning the petrol out once obtained.

"There have been no arrests to date and the car is currently undergoing forensic examination"

The British Oil Security Syndicate is an independent trade organisation campaigning to reduce forecourt crime.

It works with retailers and police forces and runs a Forecourt Watch scheme offering financial rewards for help catching fuel thieves.

Executive director Kevin Eastwood said: "These criminals mainly use the fuel stations as they move between their other crimes.

"They are unlikely to have tax or insurance and their vehicles could very well be stolen.

"Habitual forecourt thieves are often the visible tip of a far larger crime iceberg."

He added: "We want to focus our efforts in Bromley in the future to help reduce the forecourt crime figures.

"At the moment we have absolutely no evidence to link the number of thefts with the rise in fuel prices."