YEARS ago, it was a pretty rare crime. But with petrol and diesel prices at all-time record high levels, fuel theft is now becoming a major problem.

A full tank on a big car can easily be worth £80 these days and that’s no doubt why more and more people are driving away from service stations without paying.

In fact, last year there were several thousand incidents across East Lancashire involving such thefts, and now police have launched a campaign to catch the culprits.

A system called ‘Forecourt Watch’ has been put in place so that filling stations can alert each other about specific vehicles, and CCTV is being widely used to capture images of the thieves.

It’s in the interests of all of us to tackle this crime epidemic because taking fuel without paying for it is not a victimless crime.

Apart from the revenue lost to retailers, the sad fact is that if petrol and diesel theft continues to grow, it will eventually be factored in as a cost.

And that will mean higher pump prices for all drivers.