Oil thieves are stooping to an all-time low in north Antrim says Mervyn Storey

The Country Medical Centre, the Church hall at the Lagg and Armoy hurling club have all been targeted with the Medical Centre having 2000 litres removed.

Mr Storey met with senior police officers in the wake of the thefts and has urged them to be pro-active in their hunt for whoever is responsible.

“All criminal activity needs to be investigated and we need to apprehend whoever is carrying out these thefts.

“It’s a pretty desperate state of affairs when these people feel they have got to attack community facilities such as a health centre, a church hall and a sporting complex.

“Unfortunately, it shows that people like this will stop at nothing when they carry on like this. Given the price of oil it seems there are those who find it more convenient to steal rather than pay the price.

“Of course it’s the consumer who loses out in this because ultimately they will have to bear the cost,” Mr. Storey added.

On Monday police also revealed that home heating oil is suspected to have been stolen from business premises in the Ballinlea Road area of Ballycastle. The oil is believed to have been taken sometime between Friday 29 November and Monday 02 December.

In another two unrelated suspected thefts, heating oil was taken from premises along Torr Road, Ballycastle sometime between Thursday (05) night and Friday (06) morning and again from a property in Main Street Armoy between midnight and Friday morning.

If you are concerned about the theft of home heating oil and would like to implement some simple crime prevention measures, you can call your local Crime Prevention Officer on 0845 600 8000..