Criminals steal millions in fuel from petrol stations every year – and you could be prosecuted even though you didn’t commit the offence

CRIMINALS are getting away with stealing millions in fuel from petrol stations across the country.

And they are using cloned licence plates to help go undetected, resulting in the prosecutions of innocent Brits.

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Freedom of Information figures obtained by Crown Oil reveals more than £1.75million in fuel, including petrol, diesel and gas, was stolen from stations across the country.

Shockingly, around £1.1million in fuel was nabbed from bowsers in London last year, while another £638,000 was taken in the rest of the UK.

Only 23 of the 45 police forces across the country responded to the Freedom of Information requests, which suggests the figure could be a lot higher.

Even more surprising is that around 99 per cent of these crimes didn’t result in a prosecution.

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Innocent Brits could be fined or prosecuted for a fuel theft they didn’t commit due to cloned licensed plates[/caption]

And this could be due to record number of thieves who are now copying registrations to avoid getting nabbed by police.

Last week, we revealed that British drivers are at risk more than ever of receiving a motoring fine that isn’t their fault after a surge in cloned licence plates.

Car cloning is an illegal practice where criminals steal the identity of a legally registered vehicle and use it to hide a stolen vehicle, which is usually a similar make and model.

They then use a motor with the similar plates to help get away with motoring offences, ranging from speeding to more serious crimes like robberies.

If the car is caught breaking the law, the offences will often be sent to the owner of the car which has been cloned.

It can be quite difficult to know when your car’s plates have been cloned, with many drivers only finding out when they receive a fine in the mail.

Matt Greensmith, managing director of Crown Oil said: “These findings confirm our suspicions – fuel theft occurs far too often across the country and costs businesses and individuals alike millions of pounds a year, whilst the nature of the crime often means a reported theft will go unpunished.”