RURAL building site and plant owners are being warned to be on their guard following a major theft of diesel fuel in Worcestershire.
Thieves targeted the former Blue Bird Toffee factory site on Bromsgrove Road in Hunnington which is currently being developed into housing.
Offenders stole 600 litres of diesel overnight on June 27 and 28 after taking caps off machinery including a digger, roller and other equipment at the large site.
PC Nigel Bolton, a rural and business crime officer for West Mercia Police, said: “We have been working with the construction industry to help them protect their equipment, but this can prove difficult as it’s often many different companies and contractors involved in different aspects of the site.”
He advised building firms and site owners can protect their plant machinery by corralling them together before leaving the site, installing CCTV or using temporary monitored intrusion detection systems, details of which can be found on the police-approved Secured by Design website.
“Alarms can also be fitted to large fuel bowsers that send an alert if there are rapid drops in fuel levels consistent with offenders draining the tanks,” added PC Bolton.
PC Mike Roberts, rural, business and We Don’t Buy Crime Officer for West Mercia Police, added: “Building sites can be very difficult to protect as they are usually large, with weak boundaries in some places, and may need better security.”
Advice to protect machinery includes using trackers, alarms, an immobiliser and installing site CCTV, removing keys from cars, tractors and any other vehicles left unattended, shackling them together or chaining them to a hitch secured to the ground or strong fabric of a building.
Owners are also advised to mark their property with a postcode, make a property list of valuable items detailing the make, model, serial number, value and description.
Police also advise owners to take photographs of all their valuables and note any distinguishing marks, including where and how they’ve property marked it
Visit www.westmercia.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/rc/rural-crime/heavy-machinery-theft-prevention for more.
