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Scots diesel fraud
Page 10
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by Guy Sheppard Ind Miles Brignall 3ustoms officials are cracking lawn on the use of rebated red iiesel following a series of spot :becks on trucks in Scotland, tnd the discovery in Northern reland of the fourth diesel launiry in as many weeks.
Customs believes the use of ad diesel is increasing in ;cotland following a recent ciadside check on the A96 near Morayshire.
It found that about a quarter if more than 25 trucks stopped vere running on red diesel, vhich carries a fuel duty of ust 3p/lit.
A Customs spokesman says: What we have found is that the ise of red diesel seems to be nore prevalent than in England." le can offer no explanation for his trend, which was the subject if a BBC Scotland TV documenary last week.
But lain Mitchell, MD of John
Rebell Haulage and Varehousing in Grangemouth, ,elieves a major factor is maret penetration by foreign auliers who run on lower riced Continental diesel: There's no way we can cornete with them. The reason eople are tempted to use red iesel is competition from uropean hauliers."
Mitchell, who was featured in le documentary, says he could ave £480 a week if he used red iesei on return trips between Glasgow and Aberdeen. He has already lost part of a 10-vehicle paper distribution contract to a Continental operator and expects to lose the rest of it later this year.
Phil Flanders, regional director of the Road Haulage Association in Scotland and Northern Ireland, says the problem is definitely worse than three years ago: "Margins are tighter and the pressure is on everybody" Customs officers warn that spot checks on trucks in Scotland will be stepped up, using a cash injection from the Treasury designed to crack down on fuel fraud.
The discovery of yet another red-diesel laundry in Northern Ireland suggests that Customs officers are finally getting on top of a problem that had threatened to get out of hand.
Last week they unearthed a laundry in farm buildings on the outskirts of Cookstown, Co Tyrone which had the capacity to launder more than 100,000 litres of diesel a week.
Officers also seized 47,000 litres of laundered fuel and some £50,000 worth of pumping, storage and filtration equipment.
Evidence from that raid led to the closure of three filling stations, the seizure of more than 100 vehicles and two arrests. In separate operations, Customs officers seized 137 vehicles in the Coleraine and Lame areas.
A Customs spokesperson says: "We have closed down four laundering plants in as many weeks, which together had a capacity to launder in excess of 450,000 litres of diesel a week."
• Anyone with information about fuel laundering should contact: Customs' confidential hotline on 0800 595000.