Falmouth police focus on fuel thefts
7:00am Tuesday 12th February 2013 in News
By Greg Fountain, Reporter/Photographer
Fuel thefts from vehicles on industrial estates are becoming a real problem for Falmouth Police.
Criminals are going equipped to steal large quantities of the black stuff and they even appear to be stealing the equipment they need to cart if off.
“Marine crime and fuel thefts are causing us an issue,” Inspector Steve Lenney said from Falmouth Police Station.
“With the volume of fuel they are actually taking, they are going well prepared to do it.
“We are not talking about four or five gallons, they are not coming with a jerry can and taking a little bit – they are taking a substantial amount.”
Insp Lenney is appealing for anyone who spots anything they might suspect to be a crime in progress to contact the police straight away.
“We are upping our patrols in the estates and the boat yards,” he said.
“But we do need the public to be phoning in when they see anything suspicious.”
The theft of two diesel containers from a boat in the Helford Passage recently is being linked to these fuel thefts.
“It’s preparation for something,” Falmouth CID’s Detective Sergeant Martin Roberts said. “We need everyone to keep their eyes open. Anything suspicious – vehicles, people, you don’t usually see – call us, don’t be frightened to call us.
“If it’s nothing then great, I would rather it be nothing than something that we don’t know about.”
Fuel thefts aside, Sgt Roberts was keen to point out a drop in car crime with no recorded thefts from vehicles in the last couple of weeks.
“I like to think the public are listening and they are thinking about their possessions,” he said, “keep up the good work.”
