Petrol thefts cost £1k each month

Petrol stations in the West Midlands are losing as much as £1,000 a month because of the number of drivers stealing fuel, it emerged today.

More motorists than ever are making off without payment, known as "bilking", as prices continue to soar to new records every day. Some crooks have also been confusing staff by going into garage shops and buying an item such as sweets before asking the attendant to switch on a pump to allow them to fill up. They have then been fleeing forecourts.

Other motorists are leaving their details claiming they do not have enough cash on them to pay, only to fail to come back.

Kieran Wallia, manager of the Blakenhall Service Station on Dudley Road, Wolverhampton, said the number of drive-offs had soared from one a month last year to two a week.

He said: "We have had two cars drive off this week and two last week. It's definitely become worse the last few months since the prices went as high as they have."

The filling station charges 114.9p a litre for unleaded and 129.9p for diesel.

Shailesh Parekh, who runs Texaco filling on Wolverhampton's Stafford Road where diesel had today risen again to £134.9 a litre and unleaded was £116.9, said the number of people confessing they do not have the money to pay for their fuel has also shot up.

Ebrahim Bhattay, from Mibson's service station on Birmingham Road, West Bromwich, said people drove off without paying "once or twice a month".

But Mr Bhattay said he was aware of one garage in the area which was losing £1,000 a month to drive-offs.

Police in Staffordshire have seen incidents of driving off from forecourts without paying nearly double in the last three months. During March, April and May of last year 120 offences were reported. During the same period this year the figure rose to 195.