[ambriel]

Checked our kerosene tank this morning and discovered some thieving toe-rag has had it away with more than 600 litres of heating oil sometime recently! I'm fuming!

There's virtually no crime round where we live so it must have been someone targetting our area specifically, from elsewhere.

Keep your eyes peeled, people, they're gettting everywhere now.

[doganjo]

OMG, that's a lot of money too!  Guess it's the economic climate again. 

[CameronS]

how low can people stoop 

we had a similar problem about 2years ago, which resulted in us losing all our oil, and nowe have to make sure it is locked up so noone can get in.

[Roxy]

Its getting terrible now -raiding oil tanks.  We are down a country lane, and down a long farm track.  Our neighbours are in a courtyard if 4 houses, and while they were all at work etc, a full tank of oil disappeared......it had been delivered two days earlier.  The theft was traced to a neighbour (who has a record for stealing and drug related incidents)  It went to court, as did the fact that my horse wagon had been relieved of a full tank of diesel - the night before a show when it was full.  I know who it was because their car and van were dripping in diesel which had been poured in in a hurry.

Unfortunately they were found not guilty on both counts as they were not "caught in the act" so to speak, and therefore not enough proof.  They sat there smirking, and continue their thieving other peoples diesel.

Apparantly if our diesel had been "personalised" as in coloured or something, we would then have had proof.  Great, but I thought I would be using the diesel the following day, not having to dye it in case it was robbed!!!!

It looks like people are watching where the oil tanker goes to and tipping thieves off.  Its not right and a lot of money to lose.

[benkt]

We've just had reminder about locking up the oil at our church as there has been a lot of thefts from rural churches here. Apparently we must have it padlocked otherwise the insurers won't pay out if it gets nicked.

[Roxy]

Sign of the times when you have to lock your oil up.  There again, I walk past a field in the middle of nowhere, and notice he  has giant padlocks on his hen shed, and what looks like his feed store.  There were some lovely hanging baskets in front of the village shops, paid for by the shops, but the village council provided the nice brackets.

Beautiful they were, until someone helped themselves.  Suppose they will be chaining the baskets to the brackets this year!!!

[Wood]

It is amazing what people will steal, we had our hen house stolen a few months back and they even let all the chickens out first!!

Needless to say we now have it bolted to the ground and padlocked. It was particularly bad around us at Christmas time but not so bad now.

[OhLaLa]

Pubs in London / Essex have been chaining their hanging baskets for as long as I can remember.

And pinching oil has been a topic on the news for quite some time now. Putting the oil tank into a securely locked outbuilding seems to be the answer.

Lock everything up.

[Hermit]

It goes on everywhere, a neighbour of mine was one of the lucky ones with a peat bank next to the road.Someone must have been waiting for him to do all the hard work even bag it up waiting for transporting and then went along one night and took the lot! Now he has a peat bank on the moor away from tracks so you have to carry the peat to a track like me

[lachlanandmarcus]

If that were mine Hermit Id be tempted to put some stink bombs where I knew where they were in the peat pile but the thieves wouldnt - they might take it but they wouldnt make it down the road before asphyxiating 

[Beewyched]

We've been advised not to put a lock on our oil tank because the theives will just bore a hole into it, causing more £ of loss    Seems like the only way is to try & build a block/brick housing around the tank.

[Hermit]

Stink bombs for in the car, no I would put them inside a piece of peat and leave the experience for when they put it on the fire

[robert waddell]

you can get your tank alarmed    our neighbour had oil stolen they came back a second time alarm went of they scarper-ed left there tools of the trade behind them  police were there in 5 minutes but caught nobody 
i am sure the more astute among us will have various methods of theft prevention and retribution given the equipment and substances that are freely available to agriculture
now remember farms are dangerous places (the HSE keep telling us) strangers?and the middle of the night (without lights)is a really bad combination                         now take care and don't have bad dreams

[southernskye]

There have been a few scattered reports of fuel-oil theft on Skye these past two winters.
It is just a sad reflection on "society" and the lack of morales and scruples in these current times.
Rgds
S Skye

[robert waddell]

do the people in skye still leave there doors unlocked at night