There is a growing trend these days for criminals to steal fuel; they use false number plates or vehicles that have stolen number plates on. But they are not stealing from filling stations; they are going for the softer target of home storage tanks.

2008-06-30 08:57:41 - Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

Vehicles with false number plates follow tankers

There is a growing trend these days for criminals to steal fuel; they use false number plates or vehicles that have stolen number plates on. But they are not stealing from filling stations; they are going for the softer target of home storage tanks.

Many people around the country are finding that their heating oil

tanks have been emptied, in some cases the thieves have been spotted, so the number plates and vehicle details have taken down, but as with thefts from filling stations, the number plate information is wrong, because they are false number plates which have been stolen from other vehicles.

One victim, Madeleine Harding said: "I'm still paying for the last lot of oil I had which should have tided me over till Christmas next year.

"So in effect, if I buy some more, which I'm going to have to at some point, I will be paying double."

The thieves find it easy to know which tanks are full, because they simply follow the tankers around and make a note of the addresses to go back later. The tanker drivers often notice that they are being followed and report the number plates of the vehicles, but this has little effect because they are stolen.

Mark Nolan owns Nolan Oils in Bicester, Oxfordshire said: "The driver is on the look out all the time for people that might be following us.

"We've had instances where a vehicle tracked us for about two hours.

"We reported it to the local police but unfortunately by the time the police had got there the vehicle had driven away.

"Luckily we got some number plates but they were false plates of course."

He also had some advice to owners of oil tanks: "Make sure your garden is secure. Make sure that gates are locked.

"You can also buy locking fuel caps which makes it more difficult.

"But, it's the same as most things at the end of the day, if they do want to get the fuel they will get the fuel."

Source [BBC]

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