Petrol theft? It’s too low value for us to investigate, say police

THE owner of a petrol station has criticised police for refusing to investigate a fuel theft because it is ‘too low value’.

Paul Ghuman has CCTV and the registration of the driver who allegedly left without paying £22.50 for petrol.

But police told him they would not actively investigate the crime, raising fears petty criminals are free to act.

Chief Superintendent Jim Allen, from Derbyshire Police, said: ‘This type of alleged crime would be wholly preventable if stores adopted a pre-payment model – something that’s been implemented successfully within a number of other fuelling stations in the area.’

He added: ‘How much valuable police time and public money would our community wish us to invest in detecting

alleged crime that’s totally preventable and to the value of less than £25?’

The force’s budget for this year is £169 million but it said it had been forced to make £38 million of savings since 2010.

Mr Ghuman, 63, whose petrol station in Derby loses on average about £1,500 a year due to theft, said: ‘Police have said they will put a trace out on the registration number and, if they see the car, they will question the driver but nothing more than that. I know the police don’t have the time to pursue everyone, but it sets a dangerous precedent and we need to be deterring criminals from stealing.’

The alleged theft involved a grey or silver Volkswagen at 7.15pm on August 22.

Inspector Lauren Woods from the force added: ‘We didn’t deem it proportionate to carry out further investigation due to the low value of the unpaid bill. A large proportion of people who drive away from garages without paying are making a genuine mistake.’ Last week, a jeweller in Nottingham turned detective to catch two gold thieves after police failed to act. John Easom had the names of alleged suspects within 40 minutes of putting CCTV footage on social media.

Last week, a National Audit Office report said forces were ‘struggling’ to keep the public safe after funding cuts and a rise in crime. It said spiralling rates of crime such as sex attacks and gun and knife offences were increasing pressure on resources.