Forecourt crime falls during lockdown but is now on the rise once again

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Garage forecourt crime fell to its lowest level since 2015 when the national lockdown was imposed but is now on the rise again.

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New figures from the British Oil Security Syndicate (Boss) covering the second quarter of 2020 – the period when the lockdown was operating – show that crime fell by 50% to 99 incidents compared with 198 crimes in the first quarter of the year.

The organisation’s Forecourt Crime Index shows the average number of incidents per site was just seven in the second quarter of the year – compared with 14 in the first quarter.

Boss executive director, Kevin Eastwood, said: “We’ve found that the COVID-19 crisis has accelerated a trend towards no means of payment incidents and it now accounts for approximately two-thirds of all forecourt fuel crime.

“Anecdotal evidence collected since June indicates that the volume of drive-off incidents has already returned to pre-COVID levels. All the indicators now point to rising levels of forecourt crime and we anticipate a further surge as the COVID-19 recession starts to bite.

“Our research has established that the real problem is that more than a million incidents still take place every year. This means drive-off and no means of payment incidents cost the forecourt sector about £60m a year – double the problem 10 years ago.”

Boss is a not-for-profit independent trade organisation campaigning to reduce forecourt crime. Guides that can help retailers reduce incidents and keep forecourts safe places to work and shop are available from Boss and can be downloaded from its website at https://bossuk.org/guidance