POLICE say they have busted a fuel theft ‘syndicate’ suspected of hitting three petrol stations dubbed the ‘Shirley triangle’.Officers believe a stolen Mercedes was used about 30 times to full up and then drive off with hundreds of pounds worth of fuel.
They said the vehicle had 12 large fuel tanks in the boot and rear footwells.
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Nine men from Moseley, Spark Hill, Small Heath and Alum have been arrested and bailed following a five-day operation at the BP, above, Shell and Sainsbury’s stations in Stratford Road.
Police said tens of thousands of pounds worth of fuel was stolen.
A press release said: “Collectively they're known by police as the 'Shirley Triangle' due to the huge amount of fuel that's disappeared from the sites.”
Last month there were 90 thefts in the borough, up more than 50 per cent on the same month last year.
Inspector Farooq Sheikh said: “Stealing fuel can be big business for these offenders; they work in small groups, between them swapping stolen and cloned number plates which they use to carry out the thefts.
“These forecourts were being regularly targeted by thieves so we conducted a covert operation to try and identify and apprehend offenders.
“It's been a huge success and we believe we've caught some of region's most prolific fuel thieves.”
Some of the men’s bail conditions include not to enter any petrol station forecourt in the West Midlands.
