Hundreds of motorists failing to pay for fuel in Shropshire
Motorists drove away from petrol stations in Shropshire without paying for their fuel more than 300 times last year, new figures released today reveal.
Since 2012 there have been 1,164 fuel thefts across the county.
Figures released to the Shropshire Star through a Freedom of Information request reveal there were 221 thefts last year in the Shropshire part of the force area.
That was significantly up on the 173 cases recorded in 2014, which was in turn higher than the 140 thefts reported in 2013. There were 92 thefts in 2012.
In total Shropshire has seen 661 thefts since 2012 and Telford & Wrekin has seen 503.
In 2012 there were 87 reports of people driving away from stations without paying in Telford & Wrekin, but in 2013 it went up to 129 and then again in 2014 to 131 and 137 last year.
Police today insist the rise in both areas is down to improved recording.
Detective Inspector Sarah Wagstaff of West Mercia Police said: "West Mercia Police has worked hard to tackle the issue of fuel theft, and will continue to do so to ensure the number of offences across both Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin is reduced.
"During the period in question we have made some changes to the way we record and deal with this kind of issue. Previously we would have made inquiries to establish if a genuine mistake had been made before actually recording an offence.
"We now record the offence at the point of initial report but will then investigate to see if the act was a genuine mistake or was indeed dishonest behaviour.
"The rises are essentially down to improved recording practices.
"There are steps that petrol station owners can take to reduce the risk of this type of offence including CCTV and posters at pumps reminding users that the police will be called."
One of the petrol stations which saw the most making off with fuel without payment cases was the Welcome Break service station on the M54. In the last five years they have seen 55 cases.
Other petrol stations which have been hit include; Trench Lock 24/7 Fuel and Save, Wheatland Service in Much Wenlock, Victoria Garage in Whitchurch, Oswestry Service Station and Shell Petrol Station in Newport.
So far this year there have been 54 cases of making off with fuel without payment across Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin.
