Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Farmers warned to be vigilant for diesel thefts amid fuel shortage

Farmers have been told to remain vigilant for criminals trying to steal fuel from farms.
Farmers have been told to remain vigilant for criminals trying to steal fuel from farms.

Farmers and crofters are being urged to remain vigilant for potential diesel thefts during the current spell of nationwide fuel shortages.

Rural insurer NFU Mutual says farms are often targeted by thieves during periods of rising fuel prices or shortages, and the company’s rural affairs specialist Rebecca Davidson said it had received increased calls about diesel thefts from farmers in the past week.

The warning comes at a time when many petrol stations are running out of fuel, or limiting the amount customers can buy.

“We are urging farmers to be vigilant and to strengthen security, in case a prolonged shortage sees fuel thieves return to the countryside,” said Ms Davidson.

“Fuel theft not only grinds farm work to a halt but criminals often cause damage getting into tanks and spilling fuel.

“Often the consequence of attack is escape of fuel with the potential for serious pollution problems, which are difficult and extremely costly to clean up and which may present increased fire risks.”

The warning from NFU Mutual comes amid a shortage of fuel in many parts of the country.

She said NFU Mutual claims data showed thieves continued to steal fuel in large quantities in 2020, despite a year of national lockdowns, with the average cost of diesel theft per incident in the countryside estimated to be £2,120.

To tackle the issue, Ms Davidson said NFU Mutual is investing more than £430,000 in carefully targeted initiatives to tackle rural crime this year.

This includes two trials of connected farms using Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) technology and sensors to detect threats and provide alerts and notifications to farmers when there is activity outside a farm’s fuel tank or its levels change.

Ms Davidson said NFU Mutual had also produced security tips to help farmers protect their fuel supplies.

This includes recording the number, location, tank storage capacity and the dates and times when tanks are filled, and to regularly check levels.

Farmers are also advised to fit a fuel tank alarm – such as a remote electronic fuel level gauge which sets off an audible or remotely monitored alarm if the fuel level suddenly drops or falls below a specified level – and to strengthen farmyard and building security.

NFU Mutual advice for protecting fuel in vehicles is to use locking caps, keep tractors and powered machinery locked up and out of sight, and to regularly check fuel gauges for irregularities.

More advice is online at www.nfumutual.co.uk