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POLICE Notice re Heating Oil Theft


Your first sign that your tank has been attacked is often when the heating stops working. You may assume there is a fault in your system and an engineer will then diagnose the problem as being that there’s no oil left! 

Sometimes a smaller amount is taken but often the whole tank may be drained. The methods can be very crude, including drilling or punching holes in the side of the tank and then filling jerry cans, but you can take steps to prevent these losses:
Monitor the level of oil in your tank regularly.
Hide the tank from view from the road using hedging, fencing or walling but make sure it is visible from your house.
Consider security lighting to cover the tank, a PIR system can also alert you in your house to movement at the tank. Consider CCTV options.
Ask your neighbours to be vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the police. Look after each other!
Padlock the valve but consider that thieves may smash the valve but this involves noise and a lock can deter a less determined thief.
Make sure your gates are locked when possible and certainly at night, to make it more difficult for a thief to escape with oil.
Lock your doors at all times if the tank is situated in an outbuilding.
Consider alarm devices which create an alert if the oil level suddenly drops or if the lock is attacked.
These can send alerts to your phone.
Message Sent By
Dave Olczak
(Police, PC, Pickersleigh & Chase Safer Neighbourhood Team)
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Please note that it is not possible to report crimes or incidents via Neighbourhood Matters. To make a report of a crime or incident, please contact West Mercia Police at www.westmercia.police.uk or dial 999 in an emergency.