Police issue alerts and security tips to households reliant on heating oil to deter a crime that can leave victims with bills of thousands
There is no subtle way to receive heating oil deliveries in rural Northern Ireland: clearly marked tankers trundle through roads and lanes and park outside homes while they replenish storage tanks.
The trucks’ comings and goings are visible to the entire community, indicating which households have stocked up on oil, and that is a problem because criminals monitor deliveries to identify targets.
Stealing heating oil and other fuels is a decades-old practice in this part of the UK but the conflict in the Middle East has worsened it by ratcheting up the price of “liquid gold”.
“Rural homes and farms are increasingly being targeted by opportunistic thieves,” said Gary McCartney, the regional director of Countryside Alliance Ireland. “A tank can be drained in minutes.
