Calor is urging off-grid homeowners in Bath to ensure their fuel is safe, after statistics from the police revealed that the theft of heating oil is on the rise across the area.
Local information from Avon and Somerset Constabulary showed that the number of reported oil thefts in the county has risen over the last few years, to around 100 separate incidents annually – and of these, over four times more reported thefts are from domestic properties than commercial buildings.
In addition, research by UK rural insurer NFU Mutual also found that rural theft cost an estimated £44.5m in the UK during 2013 – up 5.2 per cent on the previous year, with oil being ranked the third most commonly targeted item.
Paul Madge, of Calor, said: “These figures demonstrate the seriousness and growth of heating oil theft for those living off-grid in Bath. It is sometimes assumed that oil thieves only target commercial buildings, but in fact residential properties are equally at risk.”
Heating oil is easy to target as tanks are quite large, and thieves need only to trespass onto the property, pierce the tank and then siphon off the oil.
This causes great expense through repair or replacement of the tank and oil, and there may also be environmental damage from spillages to clean up.
Meanwhile, homeowners are left cold, uncomfortable and vulnerable, and living in a house with no heat.
Paul continued: “In comparison to oil, gas is virtually impossible to steal, as it would require specialist equipment to be extracted from a gas tank. Gas tanks can also be buried underground making them more difficult to spot.”
In order to truly secure your rural fuel, Calor is recommending off-grid residents of Bath make the switch to LP gas.
Not only does gas offer a more secure option in terms of risk of theft, there is also a greater security of supply.
Customers wishing to make the switch to Calor gas before 31st March 2015 are being offered a free gas connection and above ground tank installation worth £1000, plus fixed prices for 12 months.
You can call 0800 085 5023 for more information.
