By Claire Ellicott and Ray Massey
Last updated at 12:39 AM on 23rd December 2010
Police forces in rural areas are warning homeowners to guard against criminal gangs siphoning off heating oil from tanks.
There has been a spate of thefts across the country following the increasing scarcity of heating oil and its rapidly rising cost.
Many families are facing waits of up to a month for fresh supplies as the Big Freeze continues.
Criminal gangs are raiding home heating oil tanks and siphoning the fuel as prices rise and supplies become more scarce
Yesterday, some distributors were charging just under 80p a litre for the fuel – an increase of 73 per cent in three months.
The price of heating oil is linked to the price of crude oil which has risen by 17 per cent in that time, leading critics to accuse energy companies of profiteering.
The Office of Fair Trading is now looking for evidence of price-fixing.
The increase is also ten times the rise endured by gas customers and is estimated to add as much as £540 to the annual heating bills of the 800,000 homeowners in Britain who are dependent on the fuel.
Police believe the price rise, combined with rationing introduced by the Government and delivery problems, has led to the increase in thefts of heating oil from rural properties.
In Worcestershire, police arrested a man on suspicion of theft after more than £2,600 worth of heating oil was stolen from rural households last week. The unnamed man, in his mid-twenties, was detained after officers searched his Ford Transit van.
Police said several oil tanks in south Somerset had been targeted by thieves and there had been at least 13 thefts of oil and gas from homes, schools and even a nursing home in recent weeks.
In Suffolk, ten thefts have been reported since the beginning of the month, with a total of 4,000 litres taken. In rural west Kent, police said there had been 20 heating oil thefts since the beginning of winter.
Last month, a congregation was forced to abandon their Sunday service at a church in Cilcain, North Wales, after thieves stole 500 litres of heating oil.
Police advised homeowners to fit good quality padlocks, lockable metal cages or alarms to their tanks or install cameras or lights to protect their supplies.
Earlier this week, Charles Hendry, the energy minister, pledged to prioritise fuel for the vulnerable and those running low.
The Federation of Petroleum Suppliers, which represents heating oil firms, suggested that deliveries may be disrupted until the end of January as firms try to clear the backlog.
Michelle Mitchell of Age UK said: ‘Reports that heating oil is being stolen from rural locations will be a real concern for people in later life, some of whom are more vulnerable and may be struggling with the cost of heating oil in the first place.
‘Not only is crime a traumatic experience in itself but, at this time of year, older victims will run the risk of going without heating because they can’t afford to replace their oil or cannot get oil delivered due to the terrible weather conditions.’
Rail chief's 'fully open' snow boasts melt away
Hundreds of thousands of Christmas travellers were caught up in rail delays yesterday – only hours after a senior Network Rail executive had boasted: ‘We’re fully open for business.’
Robin Gisby, the director of operations and customer services, went on radio at breakfast time to reassure passengers that ‘we’re in pretty good shape’ and running ‘a pretty good service’.
Shortly after, more than half the country’s train operators were reporting delays and disruption. And there is even more misery to come as passengers face a series of strikes, engineering works that will cause disruption over Christmas – including a complete shut-down on Christmas Day – followed by inflation-busting fare rises of up to 43 per cent in the New Year.
Half the country's train operators reported delays and disruption to services with more misery to come from strikes and engineering works
Angry passengers said Mr Gisby’s ill-timed words smacked of the infamous ‘Crisis, what crisis?’ remarks of Labour prime minister James Callaghan at the height of the economic meltdown in the late 1970s.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Gisby admitted Network Rail had performed badly during the last cold spell in late November but said: ‘I think over the last week, yeah, we’re in much better shape.
‘We’re fully open this morning. It’s snowing at the moment, but we are fully open for business. We’re fully open and working well. We’re open for business today right across the network. We’re planning to run a pretty good service.’
But the reality for millions was that they endured yet another miserable journey into work, with delays and cancellations reported on 14 of the 27 main routes.
Passengers on First Capital Connect services were among those most badly affected as the rail company warned on its website of ‘major disruption’ followed by a stream of delayed and disrupted services, all blamed on Network Rail.
Commuter Dominic Edward from Harpenden said: ‘It’s a complete shambles. If this is open for business, then heaven help us. What planet are these rail bosses on?’
West Coast main line operator Virgin Trains had to axe some London to Birmingham and Manchester services because of a broken-down train between London and Northampton.
‘Major delays’ were reported by Cross Country, East Coast, Eurostar and FirstTranspennine Express.
The East Coast line was hit with problems between Northallerton and York. There were also delays and cancellations on services run by Northern Rail and First Great Western.
Those trying to get to Gatwick were held up by a signalling problem at Preston Park near Brighton. In London, the Docklands Light Railway was suspended between Canning Town and Beckton because of power supply problems.
Commuters also face disruption from major engineering works spanning the period from Christmas Eve to January 4.
The work includes major disruption on the West Coast mainline on December 27 and 28.
Passengers on London Euston to Glasgow services must change at Crewe because of engineering works between there and Preston. Passengers heading from Glasgow face two changes, at Preston and Crewe. Replacement buses will be used for intermediate stations.
Work on Reading station means disruption and diversions to First Great Western mainline trains from the last train tomorrow until January 4.
Heathrow's £1 million a year chief gives up his bonus
Under fire: Heathrow boss Colin Matthews
The boss of Heathrow Airport yesterday gave up his annual bonus in the wake of the chaos at the airport – but can still expect a massive payout in the long term.
Colin Matthews, chief executive of Spanish-owned airports operator BAA, said he would not be receiving his performance-related payment after up to half a million travellers were stranded during the days of cancellations and delays when snow closed the airport.
The near £1million-a-year executive would not say how much of a cash sacrifice he was making, or discuss his longer-term performance bonus which is likely to dwarf the year-on-year element.
The move follows massive criticism from passengers, airlines and ministers and demands from unions for him to be hit in the pocket for a fiasco that saw Heathrow branded ‘Third World’ for its inability to cope with long-predicted snow and ice. Mr Matthews, who admitted earlier he had been ‘over-optimistic’ about Heathrow’s ability to cope, said: ‘I have decided to give up my bonus for the current year. My focus is on keeping people moving and rebuilding confidence in Heathrow.’
In addition to his salary and annual bonus, he enjoys a three-year incentive scheme dependent on financial performance.
BAA would not say what his 2010 bonus would have amounted to. For 2009, his salary and bonuses, excluding shares, were £944,000.
Mr Matthews’ decision came after days of travel misery for thousands.
BAA said that, with the second runway finally open, about 70 per cent of flights – about 900 in total – were operating at Heathrow yesterday and this figure should increase today. It stressed passengers should not expect an immediate return to normality.
In response to criticism that Heathrow had failed to invest in sufficient winter equipment, Mr Matthews said: ‘It’s unacceptable that passengers cannot get where they want to be.
‘We have to assume we’ll have weather like this in the future. We will need to purchase new equipment. We must make sure this does not happen again.’
Gatwick and Luton said they were open for business but would have some knock-on disruption.
In the North-West, Liverpool John Lennon and Manchester Airport were operating normally. East Midlands Airport at Nottingham had only one cancelled flight, to Dublin, due to poor weather in Ireland.
Both Bristol and Birmingham Airports said the majority of their flights were operating as normal.
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