Fuel cheat caught on CCTV, the police are asking for help hunting a man they believe is responsible for driving off from petrol stations in Telford with hundreds of pounds worth of fuel.
A CCTV image of the man filling up the silver colored Mazda RX-8 at the Asda petrol station in Donnington, Telford, Shropshire on September 23 has been released by police.
The West Mercian Police Force believe the same man has struck on at least four other occasions. Each time a silver Mazda RX-8 was used with different car number plates.
A West Mercia Police spokesman Chris Ammonds said: “At each theft – as with the Asda incident – it appears that the vehicle has been displaying false car number plates as the registration numbers have repeatedly come back to other vehicles that have had their number plates stolen.
The offences date back to August 13 last year, when a driver of a Mazda RX-8 fled a forecourt in Holyhead Road, Ketley, after filling up with £51.43 of fuel. The Shell garage in Stirchley was targeted in November, when a driver of the same sports car escaped with £30 of fuel.
As well as the Donnington incident, £58.14 of fuel was taken from a petrol station in Ketley on September 2 and £57.03 from the Stirchley site on September 16. Anyone with information should call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111. Most garages these day have number plate recognition cameras installed but these are rendered useless when the illegal replacement number plates are used that have no connection to the vehicle in which they are displayed.
