HIGH petrol prices are leading to more fuel thefts, it has been claimed.

Price comparison website, PetrolPrices.com, says thefts are up 50 per cent nationally and have blamed the soaring cost of fuel.

In the last six months, unleaded petrol has risen by 16p and diesel by 23p.

Petrol stations in south east Essex also report thefts at the pumps are on the increase, despite Essex Police claiming that type of crime if falling.

Officers claim that more crooks are now siphoning off fuel from tanks.

Figures from Essex Police show between April 2006 and March 2007, there were 3,590 incidents of people leaving petrol stations without paying, or bilking as it is known.

But between April 2007 and March 2008 that figure dropped by more than 600 to 2,967.

Meanwhile, incidents of siphoning off fuel has risen from 39, between July and December last year, to 69, between January and May this year.

Carol Marks, manager of Grange Filling Station in London Road, Rayleigh, believes thefts have increased, despite the police figures.

She said: “People try anything now. We have had drivers using false plates, or putting black tape over their real plates. They literally drive up to the pump, fill up and drive off.

“We have also found people are leaving it to the last minute to fill up. We have had people breakdown before reaching us after travelling for the last 20 miles on the red.”

One way petrol stations are looking to stop thieves leaving forecourts without paying is to install the security device, Drivestop, which is in use at a Texaco garage in Wickford and at the Total in Stock Road, Stock.

It issues an audio and flashing light to drivers who are leaving the petrol station having failed to pay. If they continue and pass across a pressure sensor located at the entrances and exits, spikes are fired up from the ground and puncture the vehicle’s rear tyres.

Essex Police are also urging individual vehicle owners to make sure their fuel caps are locked and their vehicles are parked in a safe area where they can be seen.