Oil theft

[markjo]

So not good news had around 2500l stolen, fortunately it's covered by insurance, buggers cut the wire fence then probably ran a line to the end of my drive...
So my question is how can I prevent this??
Thinking CCTV?? Better lights ?? Taller fence or just a big gun

[Desiato]

B'stards, is your tank not lockable or enclosed?

[markjo]

It's lockable but they just broke the oil breather cap

[shimmey69]

Get an oil alarm

Fitted a few watchman type ones give you a tank level so you know when to order and give an alarm if tank drops too quickly!

Failing that put in ground so harder to syphon out and harder to see etc etc

[Donboy]

Oil alarms are popular in rural Scotland , maybe even some security lights that turn on when someone walks past ..

[markjo]

Yep watchman great product not , its got one has not registered the drop in oil til this morning !!!
I was thinking about putting one of those metal sheds around it..

[Henry-F]

We speak to quite a few people in your position.

There is a section on our website specifically covering the fuel theft problem.

Using CCTV to tackle fuel theft


Henry

[GnuBee]

I had 500 litres stolen a couple of months ago and that forced me to evaluate the various security options available. The sad conclusion I came to was:

1) Locking the tank = pointless, they'll break the lock or drill the tank which will cost you a lot more than replacing the fuel

2) Floodlighting the tank using IR trigger = pointless, it'll just make their life easier

3) CCTV = a good way of reviewing how your oil was stolen, including footage of the theifs in hoodies and a car/van with no or false plates

4) Oil alarm = limited value, do you want to tackle the people stealing your oil? Can you assume that they'll steal it whilst you're around to react to the alarm

This was further supported by the police who came round to issue a crime number and said the same things...

The only thing that's going to work is to make your tank inaccessible, invisible or a tougher proposition than the one at the next property.

In the end I went with lowering the tank so that it can't be seem from the road side (even from a high cab) and can't be siphoned from outside the property.

[markjo]

Yes would agree with the above, I think putting it in a metal shed would be the best option, think about moving it would cost mega ££££

[Coco H]

markjo said:

Yes would agree with the above, I think putting it in a metal shed would be the best option, think about moving it would cost mega ££££

Metal cage was our conclusion - hand made etc. I would also advocate buying small quantities in one go. For us it was only 1p more expensive to buy 500 litres compared to 1000 or even 2000. So I buy less.

[B17NNS]

www.oiltheftwatch.org