By Conor Sharkey

RECENTLY released figures show that fuel thefts have rocketed by 50 percent in the first six months of this year.

And while police are encouraging people to protect themselves against opportunistic criminals, the Strabane Chronicle spoke to one man who knows all too well what it is like to suffer at the hands of fuel theives.

Sam Speake is the landlord of the Prospect Bar and recently he had £600 worth of oil stolen from the tank outside his pub.

He explained: "I used to run a poker night here during the week and I headed home about 2am. I came in early the following day to clean up and the first thing I did was put on the heating. About an hour later I realised that the place wasn't heating, so I checked the burner. The last thing I thought to check was the actual tank, but when I did, I realised I had been robbed."

Whoever is behind the sudden increase in fuel theft, they are well organised and well equipped, according to the publican.

"Whoever stole from me had to be well organised because I have a nine foot fence around my tank. There was no holes in the tank and they couldn't lift containers over the fence, so they must have had a pump of some description. However they managed it, it was a sickener for me, losing 900 litres of oil," Sam said.

And it isn't just commercial buildings that are being targetted in rural Tyrone, Sam said. According to some of his customers, homeowners around and Sion and the Glebe are regularly falling foul of the thieves.

"I've spoken to a few people who have been saying it has been happening in their areas.

"I heard that a blind and disabled pensioner from up here in the Glebe had his oil stolen in the past two weeks, so it's obvious these people don't care who they steal from. It's a disgrace," he said.

But what can be done to stop what is quickly becoming the North West's most lucrative form of criminal activity?

"The way I look at it is, if they can steal oil from inside a nine foot fence and get away undetected, what else can they do? I haven't filled the tank since the pub was hit and I won't until I get a protective cage put up around it. I'm also installing CCTV cameras too, just to make sure it doesn't happen again. As for homeowners, I would say just be on your guard," Sam added.