Cooking Oil Thefts

Hello all.

On Monday 15th September cooking oil was stolen from the rear of a fast food outlet in Lydd. Some would say 'oh well, it's only used cooking oil where's the value in that?'

Well, this crime runs into the millions of pounds nationally and feeds into organised crime (no pun intended!)

Businesses like restaurants, pubs, fast food outlets etc usually have a contract with a licensed waste oil carrier for which they normally receive payment for the oil from the company and then the oil is recycled/reused for various things.

Therefore this is an appeal to businesses to ensure that their waste oil is stored securely whilst it's waiting for collection and if you are a victim of cooking oil theft, please report it to us via the Kent Police website online reporting tool or if the theft is in progress then 999.

It's not just the thefts but quite often the offender's vehicles, which are normally vans of some description aren't always roadworthy and aren't always insured so it's important for several reasons why we need to know about these thefts.

Can I ask business owners on the Romney Marsh who have their waste oil collected to check that they haven't had any containers/barrels stolen this week, in particular between 05:00-06:30 Monday 15th September and if you have, please report it.

Once reported you're more than welcome to let me know by email.

Thank you

Steve.

13183@kent.police.uk