UK drivers have stolen almost £200,000 of fuel from petrol stations on average every day since the Iran war broke out and sent prices soaring, according to industry analysis.
Incidents of fuel being taken from forecourts without payment have risen by a fifth in the five months since 28 February, figures from Forecourt Eye suggest.
The conflict in the Middle East severely disrupted oil supplies across the region, triggering a rise in wholesale prices and subsequent increase in costs at the pump in the UK.
Forecourt Eye said the value of the stolen fuel is estimated to have risen by 48% compared with the five months before the war – to reach an estimated daily average of £194,000.
The fuel theft prevention company added petrol stations are reporting an increase in “abuse, intimidation and violence from frustrated customers”.
The figures are based on a representative sample of 550 forecourts, comparing the five months prior to the outbreak with the five months after it started, and extrapolated to the UK’s 8,359 forecourts.
The number of incidents recorded at the forecourts in the sample equates to 2,872 daily incidents on average at forecourts across the UK in the months after war began, up from around 2,400.
They include people driving off without an attempt to pay, and people claiming they have no way to pay after filling their vehicle.
The volume of stolen fuel rose by 24% – up from an estimated 87,000 litres to 108,900 litres a day across all forecourts.
In response, Forecourt Eye said it would partner with facial recognition company Facewatch to offer more than 2,000 retailers free access to crime reporting technology from the autumn.