January 2018
Hereford Rural North
Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT)
THEFT OF HEATING OIL
The first sign that your tank has been attacked is often when the heating stops working.
You may assume there is a fault in your system and an engineer will then diagnose the problem as being that there’s no oil left! Sometimes a smaller amount is taken but often the whole tank may be drained. The methods can be very crude, including drilling or punching holes in the side of the tank and then filling jerry cans, but you can take steps to prevent these losses:
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Monitor the level of oil in your tank regularly particularly after it’s been refilled.
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Hide the tank from view from the road using hedging, fencing or walling but make sure it is visible from your house.
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Consider security lighting to cover the tank, a PIR (passive infrared sensor) system can also alert you in your house to movement at the tank.
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Consider CCTV options.
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Ask your neighbours to be vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the police. Look after each other!
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Padlock the valve. Consider that thieves may smash the valve but this involves noise and a lock can deter a less determined thief.
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Make sure your gates are locked when possible and certainly at night making it more difficult for a thief to enter or escape premises with oil
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Lock doors at all times if the tank is situated in an outbuilding.
- Consider alarm devices which create an alert if the oil level suddenly drops or if the lock is attacked. Some devices can even send alerts to your phone
THEFTS FROM VANS
The city has seen a rise in the number of tool thefts from vans, reported to police. Thefts have occurred from vans parked overnight on the highway or owners driveways. Some thefts have even taken place during the day whilst the vehicle owner has momentarily left their van unattended during visits to and from a property they are working at. Thefts at present have mainly been reported from the Tupsley/ Ledbury Road area and Ledbury town. Hereford Rural North SNT has seen similar crimes occurring in Tarrington, Tillington and Moreton-on-Lugg.
SNT advise residents to report any vehicle(s) that they deem suspicious with vehicle registration numbers and as much description as possible of vehicle and occupants. We also advise assessing the security of your van and look at how it could be improved; for example
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Upgrade the locks from non standard
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Install a secure safe for tools within the vehicle
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Empty the cab / rear loading area and keep in a safe secure place
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Park the vehicle in such a way that the doors are against a solid, non moveable object
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Place signage in windows to warn that any contents in the vehicle are security marked with Smartwater or registered with Immobilise or similar, see websites https://www.immobilise.com/shop or https://shop.smartwater.com/
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Ask your local SNT for further info
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Don’t leave items on display such as tools, sat nav, phones, money etc.
Call 101 or email you local SNT if you would like to arrange a visit where we’ll be happy to discuss further security measures herefordrn.snt@westmercia.pnn.police.uk
LATEST UPDATES
Crimes and incidents of interest from 30th Nov 2017 to 31st Dec 2017
Sutton St Nicholas/Marden/Moreton on Lugg
Moreton-on-Lugg – At approx 23:55 on 7th December, police received a report of theft from a van in St Peter’s Close. Offender(s) have made off from area in a small white Astra van and stolen a sat nav from within the vehicle. Between 6th and 7th Dec a further similar incident for the area where victim reported entry to their van by person(s) unknown. No items reported as taken.
Dormington/Mordiford/Fownhope/Tarrington/Stoke Edith/Hampton Bishop
Mordiford – Sometime between 8th and 14th December a number of sheds on school premises have been forced open.
Tarrington – 29th Nov – A bogus caller attended an address in Tarrington purporting to be from Western Power.
13th December – A peddler was reported as visiting an address in Little Tarrington attempting to sell household items.
Between 21st and 28th December a quantity of heating oil has been extracted from the victim’s oil tank without causing damage.
Credenhill/Breinton/Stretton Sugwas/Swainshill/Byford/Bishopstone/Yazor
Yazor – Theft of mini digger from rural location between 24th Nov and 1st Dec.
Credenhill – A resident of Ecroyd Park has reported that they are continuing to find bagged dog faeces which is thrown onto their property.
Burghill/Tillington/Brinsop/Lyde
Tillington – Theft from vehicle between 6th and 7th Dec. A number of Milwaukee and Stihl power tools stolen.
Brinsop – Between 19th and 20th Dec reported theft of 3 Khaki Campbell ducks.
Bartestree/Lugwardine/Westhide/Withington/Whitestone/Preston on Wynne
Canon Pyon/Kings Pyon/Westhope/Wellington
Canon Pyon – Theft of 3 high seats used for deer stalking along with 2 pheasant hoppers. Items stolen from Nupton area between end of Nov and early Dec.
If you have any information that may assist police with enquiries, please call 101 or email herefordrn.snt@westmercia.pnn.police.uk
Your team
PS Gareth KING
PC Bart McDONAGH
PCSO Elena EKANITE
PCSO Alex NUTHALL
Contact details
Telephone: 101 to talk to your local SNT or report a crime
Email: herefordrn.snt@westmercia.pnn.police.uk
Website: www.westmercia.police.uk
Facebook / Twitter: @HerefordCops
Only call 999 in an emergency, when a crime is in progress or life is in danger.
If you would prefer to report a crime anonymously including drug related information you can also call CRIMESTOPPERS 0800 555 111
ACTION FRAUD 0300 124 2040
Fraud is carried out in many forms. It is conducted in face-to-face interactions, over the telephone, or online. The people who carry out fraud schemes usually do so through anonymity. This makes fraudulent actions much more successful, and it allows the person to continue to make illegal money in the future. For this reason, it is extremely important for all U.K. residents to report fraud whenever they encounter it. It is better to be safe than sorry, so you should report suspicious activity whenever you can.