Oil Thieves Strike At School For Third Time
Oil thieves have struck against Lockerley primary school three times in the past 18 months. Children returned to school on January 4th only to find that there was no heating. The school tried to function without the oil on 4th and 5th of January but the principal took the decision to close for the remaining three days of that week. The oil company simply could not get to the school quick enough for it to stay open due to the treacherous road conditions that were seen throughout the United Kingdom.
The head teacher Ms. Ann Smyth explained how when they returned to school in January, the gauge on the tank showed that it was empty despite it being half full before the school had closed for the Christmas holidays. Management persevered in their attempts to get emergency oil supplies delivered to the school despite having to close it from the 6th to 8th January. Eventually the oil company managed to battle through the snow and ice and had 1000 litres delivered on the evening of January 7th. But when the school opened again on the following Monday morning the level was again at zero. Ms. Smyth also told of how thieves had tried to steal oil from the tank in July 2008 but were interrupted and fled.
Staff at the school originally thought that the tank’s gauge was not working until they checked the levels themselves and found that thieves had cut into the top of the tank. In an effort to prevent further attacks, the school have had to step up security. In order to make the tank less accessible to thieves a cage placed around it is being considered. Police are continuing their investigations into these incidents.
Theft of oil from tanks is a growing crime which has been made worse by the recession and the ever increasing cost of oil.
Getting the home heated up during winter can be very expensive. Fuel such as electricity and gas show no signs of coming down in price. Clever people are switching to heating oil as a fuel though. After the changeover they have to make sure that the storage tanks are always full of cheapest heating oil ensuring they can always heat their home in winter.
