Fuel theft on the rise: Police release CCTV of woman in pyjamas ‘filling up car before driving off without paying’ amid soaring petrol prices

While oil prices are rising rapidly due to the interruption of oil supplies in the Middle East as a result of the Iran War, fuel theft is also increasing.

Police have released CCTV footage of a pajama-clad woman filling up her car at two petrol stations before “driving off without paying” in Gwyedd, North Wales.

It’s one of a series of recent incidents where fuel costs have soared around the world due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Iran, a vital shipping lane normally home to 20 percent of the world’s oil supply.

According to the latest government figures, pump prices in the UK have increased by 18 percent for petrol and 34 percent for diesel.

The alleged pajama-wearing petrol keeper is said to have refueled his silver car at Garej Ni in Pwllheli and Prysor Service Station in Trawsfynydd during Easter.

Judith Troughton, owner of Prysor Service Station, claimed the theft was ‘appalling’ and that £50 worth was stolen from her forecourt on Easter Monday. North Wales Police said they were investigating the thefts.

Fuel thefts like this have increased by 28 percent since the Iran War began on February 28.

Gas station managers are reporting an increase in No Method of Payment (NMoP) cases, where a customer fills up his tank and tells the cashier he can’t pay.

As prices rise rapidly due to the shortage following the war in Iran, fuel theft also increases

This method of theft is preferred by fuel thieves as it is treated as a civil matter in the eyes of the law, while drive-bys are a criminal offence.

Michelle Henchoz, director of surveillance firm Forecourt Eye, said: Mirror: ‘They think the police won’t come after them. But when you encounter a person repeating the same offence, it becomes fraud and therefore a criminal act.’

Police are pursuing another alleged petrol thieve who attacked a petrol station in North Yorkshire.

He is said to have made off with a jerry can full of cash at Scaling Dam Filling Station in Easington on March 26 without paying.

Officers said: ‘He is believed to have been driving a dark blue Ford and ran out of fuel in the Grosmont area before taking a lift to the petrol station.’

CCTV footage was later posted online, with cops saying they had identified a person linked to the incident.

Such thefts are harder to track because they evade license plate recognition systems, Ms. Henchoz said. He added that some people even went to the pumps with Coca-Cola bottles and walked away.

‘Bilkers’ are going back to old-school ways, targeting stray vehicles and siphoning off gas tanks. Some are drilling holes into the sides of oil tanks to disable anti-siphon technology, according to reports from Clacton-on-Sea.

James Hemingway found this out the hard way when he said Bradford-based drainage company WCG was hit by thieves who stole £2,500 of fuel from two lorries last week.

Police in Grantham are investigating the theft of 25,000 liters of diesel from a haulage firm last month and uncovered hidden pipes draining the company’s tank. They drove towards a parked car on the A1 in the countryside.

It’s not just gasoline and diesel that are being targeted by thieves, with Suffolk Police warning that heating oil is also under threat, being siphoned off or used to be sold on the black market.

In March, two properties in the Woodbridge area were attacked by thugs after heating fuel, with police warning residents to protect their oil ‘following current price increases’.

Hiding fuel tanks from the road, installing security cameras and alarms, and properly locking tanks in secure storage areas are the best ways to defend against thieves as well as immediately report suspicious activity, they said.