Fuel thieves cost businesses and householders £218,000

WARWICKSHIRE has been named as one of the country's fuel theft hotspots.

Police figures show there were 2,468 thefts worth £217,726 from petrol stations and other commercial properties throughout 2017.

The county saw the third highest number of thefts, behind Greater Manchester (5,098) and Herefordshire (2,701), and the third highest recorded value behind South Yorkshire (£703,287.30) and Greater Manchester (£300,771.11).

The figures came through a Freedom of Information request to 37 police forces by Certas Energy, a leading distributor of fuels and lubricants. Fifteen responded.

They showed that an average of 39 fuel thefts a day were reported to police forces across the country last year, totalling £1.76million.

And that out of the 14,176 occurrences, 8,663 were commercial thefts, which included reported thefts from petrol stations, and 2,042 were from domestic properties, which included heating oil thefts from rural properties.

Brian Worrall, director of corporate affairs at Certas Energy, said: “Although almost £2million is a shocking number, previous data suggests that a huge number of petrol thefts could be going unreported, meaning this could really be the tip of the iceberg.

"There does seem to be an increasing number of heating oil thefts from domestic properties being reported too and these can prove costly and upsetting for residents.

"Whether the theft is driving away without paying from a petrol forecourt, or draining heating oil from domestic oil tanks, it’s important that these crimes are recognised as being serious."