Huge rise in cost of diesel increases fuel thefts

Business is good for John Leighton. His company, which makes anti-theft devices for the diesel tanks of lorries and buses, has seen sales increase by 45 per cent so far this year amid warnings of an upsurge in "fuel rustling" sparked by sharply rising forecourt prices.

While petrol prices have risen inexorably in recent weeks to about 114p per litre, diesel – a fuel that could once be relied upon to undercut the cost of petrol – is now on average 12p per litre more expensive, which is causing financial difficulties for heavy users such as the haulage industry.

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The AA said the 5.7 per cent rise in British diesel prices in the past month was the steepest since 2000 and warned that the intervention of speculative investors on world crude oil markets was helping to push up prices to more than $135 (£68) per barrel – more than double the cost of 12 months ago.

Additional refinement processes required to make diesel more eco-friendly by reducing its sulphur content, and in particular a shortage of refinery capacity for the British market, where diesel has traditionally been less popular than on the Continent, have also contributed to the high price.

The result has been a spate of thefts of domestic heating fuel oil and cheap agricultural "red" diesel – so-called because of the red dye put in it to stop it being resold at service stations. It has also led to a sharp rise in calls to Mr Leighton's business, Dipstop, based in Shropshire. He said: "We are now constantly getting calls from companies and individuals saying they've had their fuel tank broken into and the diesel siphoned off. It is rife. People are pretty disgusted with the rate at which they are losing their fuel."

Police have warned that heating fuel and red diesel are being targeted to feed a growing black market and urged homeowners and farmers to lock tanks where possible.

Hauliers will continue their campaign to highlight the difficulties being caused by fuel prices with a "go-slow" protest by hundreds of trucks through central London next Tuesday.

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