Petrol prices: 'Drive-off' fuel thefts double in South Yorkshire as prices soar

South Yorkshire Police recorded a 101 per cent increase in petrol and diesel thefts between June 2020 and June 2022.

It comes as motorists face spiralling prices at the pumps, with critics slamming the Government over its lack of action on the cost of living crisis.

Howard Cox, of the FairFuelUK drivers’ campaign group, said the response had been “clueless and inept”.

In South Yorkshire, the number of offences doubled from 81 in June 2020 to 163 in June this year.

Police logged 3,064 offences across the county during that two-year period.

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Over the same period of time, the average price at the pump for a litre of unleaded rose 82 per cent, from 105.17p in June 2020 to 190.93p on June 27, 2022, according to Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy data.

Fuel prices have steadily risen over the last two years, but the sharpest increase happened after Russia invaded Ukraine in February this year.

There have been calls for the Government to take more action to help struggling drivers.

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Howard Cox, of FairFuelUK, said: “A small but mounting number of the world’s already highest-taxed drivers, worn down by eye-watering pump prices and our clueless Government’s inept handling of the cost of living crisis, are risking criminal records by not paying for their fill-ups.”

He said breaking the law could not be condoned, but said fuel duty should be slashed by 25p and a new regulator set up to oversee pump prices. He called on new Prime Minister Liz Truss to take urgent action.

He said the policy was a “no brainer” and current prices were “crippling low and middle-income families”.

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Gordon Balmer, executive director of the Petrol Retailers Association, which represents independent forecourt owners, said the number of actual thefts could be far higher, as many businesses do not report to the police.

“We reckon the problem could be nearly double that,” he said.

“Some police forces won’t attend if the value is below £100. Many police forces have said they haven’t got the manpower.”

He said forecourt owners often take civil action to try to claw back the money instead. Many have started asking customers to pay at the counter before filling up, in a bid to cut thefts.

“We reckon the cost to industry is between £45m and £50m,” he said

“We represent about 5,500 independent businesses - they’re not BP, Shell or Tesco. Many of them are small business people. It’s very difficult to get that money back.

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“I’ve got one member who has got 17 sites, his current electricity bill is £800,000. He’s just received quotes for a new fixed price offer of £3.4m. This is just another thing that has to be accounted for on top of the price of everything else.”

He echoed calls for a 25p cut in fuel duty.

“The Government should have gone harder on cutting fuel duty,” he said. “When the Chancellor was on his feet back in March giving us all a 5p per litre cut, the price of diesel went up by 4.5p as he was speaking. So it was almost wiped out on the day. They should have gone far further.”

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