Drivers bilking petrol stations
Poice charge thieving motorists
Motorists in the Stirling area have driven off without paying for fuel more than sixty times in the last two years.
The crime of driving away from a petrol station forecourt without paying for fuel is known as `bilking’.
New figures have shown that petrol stations within in the FK7 postcode area of Stirling – which includes Bannockburn, Cambusbarron, Cowie, Fallin, Plean, St. Ninians and South Alloa – saw 24 drivers steal their motors’ fuel over 24 months.
Police Scotland’s Forth Valley Division charged 15 people in the FK7 area for petrol drive-offs in 2015/16 and that dropped to 9 in 2016/17.
Petrol stations in the FK8 postcode area – including Stirling, Aberfoyle, Arnprior, Buchlyvie, Gargunnock, Gartmore, Inversnaid, Kippen, Port of Menteith, Ruskie and Thornhill – saw 15 thefts over the same two-year period. There were seven instances in 2015-16 and another eight in 2016-17.
The FK20 postcode – including Crianlarich, Ardchyle, Auchlyne, Luib, Tyndrum – saw two instances in each of the last two years.
The FK17 postcode, which incorporates Callander, Brig o’ Turk, Kilmahog, saw just one person charged, in 2015/16.
There were no thefts from petrol station forecourts in FK9, FK12, FK15, FK16, FK18, FK19, and FK21 over the same period.
The stats, provided by Police Scotland, show recorded crimes of theft which involved fuel drive offs – not limited to petrol.
The data covers the financial years from April 1 2015 to March 31 2017.
Forecourt Eye is a fuel crime fighting organisation that works with petrol retailers to prevent and deter fuel theft as well as providing a paperless, digital system for recovering losses from customers who claim no means of payment after filling up their vehicles.
In cases of drive offs without any attempt to make or offer payment, the system enables evidence, such as witness statements, to be quickly collated and submitted to police digitally.
Spokesperson, Eric WoollardWhite said: “There are various sources of data and anecdotal evidence suggesting that nationally the number of incidents of drive off fuel theft and customers claiming no means of payment is rising sharply.
“In England and Wales, as covered by the Office of National Statistics, the average cost of both types of fuel loss is £3,600 per year per forecourt. Despite the moderate levels of fuel crime in Stirling as stated in the data provided by Police Scotland, in our view the wider picture in Scotland remains a similar cause for concern and should encourage forecourt operators to take preventative action.”
Average fuel prices from the RAC Fuel Watch show that diesel is sitting at £1.17 a litre whilst unleaded is £1.16 and both are expected to dip even lower.