Two teenagers have been arrested as part of a police operation tasked with tackling fuel theft.
Officers followed a van after spotting someone parking up at the side of the A1 near Elksley and appearing to siphon diesel from a lorry.
Driving a covert ‘capture lorry’ to gather evidence, police stopped the van while it was parked behind two trucks in another A1 layby near Ranby village.
Officers found the fuel cap from one of the trucks on the ground and also discovered a number of large empty diesel drums and syphoning equipment in the back of the van.
A 15-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy were arrested at the scene as part of the Nottinghamshire Police operation, which took place yesterday (2 February) in response to an increasing number of fuel thefts from HGV vehicles.
Operation Magna was first launched in 2020 across the county and the deployment of a cover ‘capture lorry’ with cameras on board, as well as police drones, to gather the evidence needed to capture offenders.
Inspector Abigail Goucher, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Fuel theft can have a significant impact on hard-working local businesses, which is why this wide-ranging proactive policing operation was set up to tackle this problem.
“We’ve found the use of the covert ‘capture lorry’ to be a hugely effective tool in helping us to gather the evidence needed to catch and stop offenders, while also helping to improve recognition of these types of offences among officers.
“We would advise drivers who do need to stop at the side of the road for long periods to park with their fuel tanks facing the road when possible, in order to make it more visible to passers by and make it more difficult for potential thieves to syphon fuel in this way.”
