Waste cooking oil thieves 'a growing problem'

Thieves who steal waste cooking oil from food outlets are a "growing problem", a recycling firm has said.

Quatra said old oil was a valuable raw material which could be used to make biodiesel or sustainable aviation fuel.

It said criminals were even using false identification to pose as employees of the firm to make collections.

Fish and chip shop owner Ryan Harrison, from Oxfordshire, who has suffered repeated thefts, said it was "frustrating" to lose 30-50p a litre for his oil.

He said thieves came to his business early on 6 July, apparently knowing when the oil would be left out for collection and recycling.

"On my CCTV, two chaps turned up with hi-vis vests on in an unmarked van," he said.

"They basically unloaded the oil into their drums and drove off with it.

"From speaking to my waste contracts people, they're an organised gang.

"They know what they're doing. They go out, they follow the vans, they know when the drops are."

Harrison said he passed the van's registration number to Thames Valley Police in July.

In a statement, the force said it was still investigating the theft in Botley.

On Tuesday, Staffordshire Police said it stopped a van loaded with cooking oil on the M6.

The force said the van had been involved in a burglary in which a large quantity of cooking oil had been stolen several weeks ago.

Previously, in October, the Swan Hotel in Alresford, Hampshire, said on Facebook it had had cooking oil stolen from its kitchen.

In June, police in St Albans, Hertfordshire, found waste oil in a van leaving a pub and arrested two men on suspicion of theft.

Quatra said: "Used cooking oil theft is a growing problem with real victims.

"For pubs and restaurants, it means disruption, unwelcome visitors in their kitchens and uncertainty about who they can trust.

"Reports of people posing as Quatra staff are particularly concerning to us."

About 70% of biodiesel produced in the UK is made from used cooking oil, according to UK government statistics.

On average, thefts of used cooking oil cost the UK Treasury £25m in lost duty each year, according to a document from the police-led National Business Crime Centre (NBCC).

Both the NBCC and the National Police Chiefs' Council told the BBC they did not keep statistics about the number of cooking oil thefts.