Police warn of rise in heating oil and diesel thefts across North Wales

With the price of fuel rising there has been an increase in the theft of heating oil and diesel across North Wales.

Police have said that during this “exacerbated period of oil and fuel price inflation, we are seeing some increases in the theft of heating oil and diesel from farms and construction sites across North Wales.”

Thieves can syphon fuel from tanks within minutes and tanks that are not properly protected are very easy targets.

Sergeant Liam Jones is from the North Wales Police Rural Crime Team said: “We have seen a small increase recently in thefts from fuel tanks and heating oil containers from farms, construction sites and people’s homes.

Speaking to BBC Radio Wales this morning, Sgt Jones said: “It’s not a massive increase so far, however, we have seen year to date six instances of thefts from fuel containers and fuel tanks either on own farmyards or construction sites.

He said there have been ten thefts from heating oil containers across the North Wales area in recent weeks.

Whilst these crimes have a direct effect on victims, they can be harmful to the environment through pollution.

Sgt Jones said, “It’s not just the immediate effect of the theft of the fuel itself, often when this happens, there’s damage caused the tanks and then the secondary effects of the offence where there’s pollution to the land which can be costly for the victims to clear up.”

He said when offenders target farmyards, “won’t just steal the fuel they’ll look to steal everything as well.”

“So it’s important that people are taking all the steps they can to try and prevent the theft from their premises.”

You can increase security around your fuel and heating tanks by considering:

• Implementation of fuel management system with key or code access and alarm features
• Ensure the tank is overlooked with natural and physical surveillance such as lighting and CCTV
• Reduce access points by locking gates and blocking unused access.
• Install anti-siphoning devices and locking fuel caps
• Restrict access to the site where the tank is kept by locking gates, installing fencing and bollards.
• Also consider general security around your farm yard, home or construction site. Those involved in fuel theft won’t think twice about stealing machinery, tools and quad bikes too.
• Ensure items of value are stored securely and out of view
• Use motion sensor lighting and alarms in sensitive areas
• Improve natural surveillance, increasing the view of sensitive areas
• Consider investing in remote monitoring systems and CCTV
• Use clamps or locks on quads and off road bikes when not in use
• Consider installing immobilisers, tracker systems and forensic vehicle marking products

For further security information or to find police accredited security products, visit: https://orlo.uk/qzACs