Fuel thieves target farms and homes
2:27pm Thursday 10th July 2008
POLICE officers are warning rural householders and farmers to be on the lookout for domestic and agricultural fuel thieves. It follows an increasing number of thefts in villages around Romsey and Stockbridge.
And last weekend, a shed on a building site at Sherfield English was broken into and digger and a dumper truck stolen, along with a quantity of red diesel. A tractor shed in the village was also targeted on Saturday afternoon. In this incident, thieves siphoned off red diesel worth £120.
Petrol, diesel and domestic heating oil have been stolen from fuel tanks and outbuildings during the last few months, particularly in the Stockbridge, Broughton, Wallop, Grateley and Andover areas. And there have been a number of fuel drive-off thefts reported along motorway services in the Rownhams area.
Police say that with rising costs in fuel prices, the number of reported thefts of petrol and diesel is likely to increase.