BP truckstop security alert
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by David Craik • Cumbria police are putting pressure on two BP truckstops to improve their security after loads worth £250,000 were stolen from trucks parked overnight.
PC Mike Woolaghan says the force is talking to BP about security at its truckstops in Carlisle and Penrith. "They have to think more seriously about CCTV and 24-hour security in all their stops," he says. "What they currently have is just not good enough."
Woolaghan's comments were prompted by the theft of a £200,000 load of computers and 13 other recent attacks.
Other property stolen by gangs slashing through curtainsiders in the truckstops, or in industrial estates nearby, includes vodka, foodstuffs and electrical goods.
"These are very sussed criminals," says Woolaghan. "They know which companies are carrying which goods."
Cumbria police advise hauliers and drivers to look out for anything suspicious when they are parked at the stops.
"Give the police a call and we will be there immediately," says Woolaghan. He advises drivers to leave their sidelights on when they are parked to make any potential criminal believe they are taking a 45-minute break and are not asleep.
"We all have to work together to make these thieves find another way of making a living," he says.
A spokesman for BP says: "The company has just installed a system that films vehicles going in and out of the Carlisle site and we are planning further improvements."
Anyone with information on the Cumbrian thefts should contact: 0800 555111.