Ferrari drivers among fuel thieves as £1.2million worth stolen amid rising costs
Theft levels are now said to be worse than in 2022, when prices surged after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Fuel theft at petrol stations has risen sharply as prices increase during the US-Iran conflict, with some of those accused of driving off without paying said to be behind the wheel of luxury cars.
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Data from around 500 UK filling stations suggests the daily value of fuel thefts rose by 27 per cent after the conflict began in February, with the figures indicating more than £1.2 million worth of fuel could be stolen every week nationwide.
Forecourt Eye, a fuel debt recovery platform, said theft levels are now worse than in 2022, when prices surged after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Petrol station owners say they have seen drivers in high-end cars including Ferraris and Mercedes vehicles leave without paying, while organised gangs in vans are also said to be stealing fuel to sell on at discounted prices.
Michelle Henchoz, managing director of Forecourt Eye, told The Times: “With someone taking fuel you think that you’d have a vision of what they look like but they aren’t what you think. They are driving supercars.
“One came up yesterday and the car was a Mercedes AMG GT and they did a drive-off at one of our petrol stations. I checked online what the value of the car was. It was beautiful. I was thinking, how can they drive off?
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"The fuel energy crisis in 2022 wasn’t as bad.
“What we’re seeing is not just more fuel theft, but a different kind of behaviour that shows a clear increase in first-time offenders and in people who aren’t attempting to flee, but instead are declaring they cannot pay.”
She added: “The data suggests this may reflect growing financial pressure, with more drivers filling full tanks rather than taking small amounts. Career criminals continue to do it but now ordinary people do it too because they can’t cover the cost of fuel.”
RAC data shows average petrol prices at 158.2p per litre, up 25p from before the war, while diesel is 191.31p per litre, up 48p.
Goran Raven, who runs a filling station in Essex, said there had been a “definite and noticeable increase” in theft during the first two weeks of the conflict, mainly involving drivers filling a full tank and leaving without paying.
He said: “You’ll see everything from a crappy Fiesta going to a Ferrari. It really depends. The people who do it are brazen. They don’t worry about covering up their faces, they will even wave at cashiers.
“On one occasion we had an Aston Martin and Ferrari drive off within 30 seconds here. It was just short of £300 for two cars.”
He added: “I’m sure there are people on the breadline who are desperate, that must be the case, but I reckon that would be single-digit percentage of people committing these crimes out there.”
According to Forecourt Eye, more than 6,500 litres of fuel was stolen each day in March across the 500 sites it monitors, including supermarket forecourts and major oil company sites.
That was up 15.7 per cent on February.The daily value of theft also rose from £8,378 to £10,652. If repeated across the UK’s 8,400 forecourts, that would amount to around £1.25 million worth of stolen fuel each week.
Henchoz said there had also been an increase in incidents involving so-called no means of payment, where drivers provide their details and promise to return to pay, but do not.
She said: “They will open the sliding door — the cashier might not even see — filling up big canisters in the back of a van and either driving off or saying they’ve got no money then driving elsewhere and syphoning fuel off and selling at discounted rate.
“You are having transit vans drive round our roads that are basically mobile petrol stations. That is happening every day.”
Forecourt Eye said no means of payment cases rose by 22 per cent in March compared with February, while drive-offs increased by 6 per cent.
Many stations now use automatic number plate recognition systems to flag vehicles linked to unpaid fuel, allowing staff to refuse service or require payment in advance.
Failing to pay for fuel can lead to debt recovery action, while driving off without paying is a criminal offence under the Theft Act 1978 and can carry a fine or up to two years in prison.
However, some retailers say they no longer report every incident to police because of the low value of many cases and the low prosecution rate.
Official figures published last year showed drive-off fuel thefts had risen by almost 50 per cent over 12 months, costing the industry millions.