Drivers have stolen an average of nearly £200,000 worth of fuel from UK forecourts every day since the start of the Iran oil crisis, according to analysis.
Fuel theft prevention company Forecourt Eye said incidents of fuel taken without payment soared by 20% in the five months after the conflict began on February 28, compared with the preceding five months.
The increase in pump prices driven by the war means the value of stolen fuel rose by 48% over the same period, reaching an estimated daily average of £194,000 across the UK’s 8,359 forecourts.
For first-time offenders, there was a 23% increase in the number of incidents and a 26% rise in the volume of fuel stolen, compared with 17% and 20% respectively among repeat offenders.
The figures are based on reports by a representative sample of 550 forecourts.
They include drive-offs, when there is no attempt to pay, and no means of payment incidents, when a customer fills up and claims they have no way to pay.
The average price of a litre of petrol climbed to 160p on Friday.
That was about 27p more than before the conflict, and represented a three-and-a-half year high.
The average price of diesel is about 37p per litre higher than prior to the war, at 179p.
Forecourt Eye is partnering with Facewatch to offer free access to crime reporting technology to its customers, which it said will make it easier to record fuel thefts, shop crime and other illegal incidents.
Users will also have the option of joining a live facial recognition network run by Facewatch to alert them to known offenders.
Forecourt Eye managing director, Michelle Henchoz, said: “As offending becomes more organised and more sophisticated, operators need joined-up technology that helps them protect both their forecourt and their convenience store.”
Gordon Balmer, executive director of the Petrol Retailers Association, which represents independent forecourts, said its members are “reporting increasing levels of abuse and aggression towards colleagues who are simply doing their jobs and have no influence over the price displayed on the forecourt”.
He continued: “Bringing together technologies that help retailers prevent crime, manage incidents and support police investigations is a positive step for the industry.”
Ben Lawrence, a director at Lawrences Garages, which owns five petrol stations situated in Norfolk and Hampshire, said fuel thefts were historically often carried out by people involved in other crimes, but rises in the cost of living mean this is no longer the case.
He told the Press Association there is a “misconception” that all forecourts featuring branding from energy giants such as BP and Shell are operated by those companies, rather than smaller businesses, so some drivers believe it “doesn’t matter” when they fail to pay.
“It does matter to us,” he went on.
“When someone drives off (after taking fuel worth) £80-£90, it’s hitting us, not the oil companies.
“We’ve already purchased it.”
