Diesel thieves Burton, Staffs **pics**

[algeredge]

Woke up to this today
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/picture.php?albumid=4522&pictureid=14944

So angry I could cry. The thieves have torn and bent the body work and smashed the tank. And all that was in it was £20 of diesel.
Dont think they would've done it if the fuel cap was unlocked so I think I'll just leave it unlocked next time.
There goes my no claims bonus and my £200 for the excess that was going to pay for my BE membership. Not to mention all my plans for the next few days out of the window as no transort now
At least they didnt touch the horses.

Please be vigilent in the Burton on Trent area. I have also heard they are targetting oil fuel tanks at houses in the area and other horse boxes and lorries.

If anyone has any ideas to prevent this happening again I'd be grateful. Unfortunately I dont live at the yard so it is vulnerable.

 

[stencilface]

They came and stole ours, along with the battery (have you checked that?) a few weeks ago. We never lock ours, as its always a pain to undo, so they just nicked the lot, using one of our water containers to get more

 

[algeredge]

Yes I was suprised they didnt take the battery while they were at it! They were only after the fuel, none of the sheds had been entered and horses OK. The police found a screwdriver and footprints in the snow so they might get some DNA but I wont hold my breath

 

[Tinseltoes]

The thieving scumbags. Is there a way you could get some kind of alarm fitted to the lorry?
A rape alarm or something. Ive seen small alarms on ebay,would send them running if it went off. Or leave tank empty until ready to use.
Hope you get it fixed.

 

[Hairy Old Cob]

No Doubt Another Visit from the THIEVING COMMUNITY

 

[luckyoldme]

my dad had this problem years ago with his coaches..luckily a coach like your horse box is panelled at the side... unlike an artic where the tanks are exsposed and vulnerable. What we did was kept the coaches parked as tight up to each other as possible... tank to tank. With your horse box i would suggest parking next to a building or solid wall as tight in as possible.. leaving no room for anyone to access the tank.
hope this is of some use to you

 

[mightymammoth]

No Doubt Another Visit from the THIEVING COMMUNITY

you've got the nail on the head there

 

[Tinseltoes]

my dad had this problem years ago with his coaches..luckily a coach like your horse box is panelled at the side... unlike an artic where the tanks are exsposed and vulnerable. What we did was kept the coaches parked as tight up to each other as possible... tank to tank. With your horse box i would suggest parking next to a building or solid wall as tight in as possible.. leaving no room for anyone to access the tank.
hope this is of some use to you

Thats a brilliant idea.

 

[madalicedj]

Thats a brilliant idea.

if i sort my lorry after last wkends drama i will try n park mine as you suggest

 

[ladyt25]

As Stencilface said, we have these wonderful people help themselves to our wagon's fuel and battery a couple of weeks back along with the battery of our old fourtrak. Thankfully they didn't damage anything in the process as we were told by a mechanic, had the fuel cap been locked on they would have just pierced the tank and done damage like they did to yours.

It is soo frustrating these people get away with taking what they want over and over again.

 

[Dizzydusty]

Happened to me last year (Im in Scotland), broke my heart as there was at least half a tank of diesel they got away with. Thankfully they got the locking cap off so didn't damage anything else. They must have run out of containers as there was still diesel in the tank when I checked it. For a long time after we parked the lorry with the tank side against a building, but it exposed the jockey door, and meant that we couldnt get in the drivers door and had to climb over from the passenger side.

Boils my blood that folk think they have a better right to my stuff, that I work long and hard for, and can ill afford to replace...especially at diesel prices today!
Might just start parking the lorry petrol cap to the wall again just to be safe!

 

[luckyoldme]

Thats a brilliant idea.

Its a corker isnt it!!!! dads idea but i have passed it on to quite a few other coach operators... it does the trick!

 

[EmmasMummy]

Shame there is no way to just electrify the area around the fuel tank (yes I know fuel and electricity dont mix) so that they get a nasty ZAP when they try to touch it. Or have something like a dye pack so it sprays the buggers with dye!

My OH thinks I am mad as I never fill my car tank up to the top with fuel. My reasoning is that I have a renault, you can access the fuel tank without a key.....so even if my car is locked, someone can still syphon my fuel - if they so desire!

 

[patseyr]

Thats terrible, With the price of fuel rocketing this is going to become an ever increasing problem,

I always try not too buy too much oil/diesel etc in case something like this happening.

At least they didnt get much fuel, and I hope the repair doesn't cost too much .

Hopefully this can act as a warning to people to be more vigilant around.