Almost £200,000 of fuel stolen from UK forecourts every day since start of Iran war

UK drivers have stolen an average of almost £200,000 worth of fuel from forecourts every day since the start of the Iran war. According to industry analysis from Forecourt Eye, incidents of fuel being taken from forecourts without payment have risen by a fifth in the five months since 28 February.

The value of stolen fuel is estimated to have risen by 48% compared with the five months before the war, reaching an estimated daily average of £194,000. The number of incidents recorded at forecourts equates to 2,872 daily incidents on average across the UK in the months after the war began, up from around 2,400.

Petrol stations are also reporting an increase in "abuse, intimidation and violence from frustrated customers". The volume of stolen fuel rose by 24% following the start of the conflict. The Iran war began on 28 February, when the US and Israel launched surprise strikes against Iran.

Brief written by urgent.news from Sky News, Euronews, MyJoyOnline Ghana, BBC News, Al-Monitor — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.