EAST Cambridgeshire’s Sector Inspector Robin Sissons, has urged homeowners to stay vigilant after a recent increase in the number of heating oil thefts across the district.

With temperatures starting to plummet, Insp Sissons said thieves would be on the look out for oil tanks to plunder and warned residents to take extra care.

“The thieves see that people are starting to top up their oil tanks and they are going to target them,” he told Star Radio.

“If someone does offer you cheap oil, please don’t take it because at the end of the day there is probably a victim of crime somewhere.”

In one of the more recent incidents, 100 litres of heating oil was stolen from a tank on Ely Road in Stretham on November 8, with several other tanks also interfered with that night as thieves targeted the village.

“The thieves do target the elderly, people who perhaps cannot afford to replace the oil and it is a crime that sticks in my gut,” he said.

Insp Sissons asked residents to report all suspicious activity to police but also added that there were more practical steps that could be taken in the home, including installing a security system within the tank that alerts the home owner to a sudden drop in the tank’s level.