Bilking drivers warned by police as Mablethorpe petrol station suffers 'huge losses'
Drivers in the Louth and Mablethorpe area who flee from garage forecourts without paying for their petrol have been warned that they face double jeopardy.
The crime is known as bilking, and Lincolnshire Police has confirmed a spate of offences, with one family-run petrol station in Mablethorpe targeted more than 50 times in the last six months.
However, officers say the culprits could not only end up in the criminal courts but also face prosecution in the civil courts.
For alongside their investigations, they are encouraging garages to consider “civil recovery of the debt owed for the stolen fuel” through the British Oil Security Syndicate (BOSS), an organisation that works to reduce forecourt crime.
The petrol station badly blighted by bilking is the Empire Garage and convenience store on Alford Road, where owners Kavita and Sanjay Pilani say they are suffering “huge losses” to their business.
The couple claim drivers are filling their tanks with “nothing less than £80 worth of petrol” before speeding off without paying.
Kavita despaired: “We can’t do anything about it. It is having an emotional impact on staff who are getting very stressed at times.”
The Pajanis have even resorted to posting messages, pictures and videos on the garage’s Facebook page in a bid to stop the bilking.
One message reads: “Another thief stealing petrol. Someone please identify him and shame him.”
Another says: “Please support our prepay pumps and don’t argue with staff. We have had many drive off in the last few days. Sometimes, when it is busy, we can’t see from inside the store who is filling their vehicles.”
Kavita and Sanjay say they have reported every theft to the police and are annoyed that “they don’t do anything about it”.
However, a spokesperson for Lincolnshire Police told the Louth Leader: “Our team works with garages on a range of measures to prevent bilking and ensure they understand the steps they need to take.
"These can include the use of prepay technology so that a bank card is charged ahead of the fuel being pumped. Incidents of bilking are not always thefts but cases of people forgetting to pay.
"Officers need to focus their time on investigating crimes, while the civil recovery of the debt is the responsibility of the garage. This can be done through BOSS.”