Concerns have been raised around criminals targeting petrol stations following a recent spate of unusual incidents.

Roger Gerrish, the owner of Gerrish Fuels which has service stations in Ludgershall, Bulford and Winterbourne Stoke, has spoken out about unusual behaviour happening overnight.

Speaking to The Advertiser, he said his Ludgershall station has been burgled a number of times recently, with thieves cutting off the lock to his garage to steal chainsaws and other equipment.

"They took what they could carry," he said.

On top of being the victim of crime, he said he has suffered from vandalism, with the windscreen of his van smashed, and his forklift drained.

“It’s a complete mess,” said Chris, an employee at the service station. “There are many people keeping an eye on this place.”

He added: “They sit in the layby and race off when they’re seen. They go beserk to try and escape.”

Roger raised concerns in particular about a milk float which has been spotted arriving on his premises in the early hours of the morning.

However the float's owner, Milk & More, have said the driver in question had recently joined the business and was looking for a safe place to store their milk as they hadn't delivered to that address before.

A spokesperson for Milk & More said: “On September 7, 2020, we received a call from an Andover resident who informed us he had CCTV footage of two men outside his house, with torches, in the early hours of the morning and this concerned him. We explained to him that his milk round was being covered by two milkmen who have recently joined the business and as they had not delivered to the address before, they were looking for a safe place to leave the delivery. We asked for the CCTV footage to be sent to us, as we wanted to review the footage, but we never received it.

“At Milk & More, we care about the community in which we serve and want to reiterate that people can feel safe in reporting any issues they are experiencing. If anyone has any concerns about Milk & More or the service, we request people share this information with us and we will treat it with the strictest confidence. If anyone would like to report an issue, customer or not, they can do so by phoning our Customer Services team on 0345 606 3606.

“Alternatively, if someone feels a crime has occurred that involves us, then we advise reporting it to the police and we will assist, where needed, with any investigations that take place.”