School counts cost of oil thefts (From York Press)

School counts cost of oil thefts

9:16am Friday 3rd February 2012 in Education news

THIEVES have stolen more than 1,500 litres of heating oil from a North Yorkshire school in the last three months.

The thefts have cost the Whitley And Eggborough Primary School, in Learning Lane, Whitley, about £4,000 after it had to be closed for two days in December.

Diane Steward, school office manager, said the latest incident occurred overnight on Wednesday, January 25. Ms Steward said: “We just scraped through with 500 litres left, but they stole 1,500 litres, which is worth just over £1,000.

“The children have certainly suffered. Last time we had to close the school and they lost two days of education and had to cancel the school plays. It also inconvenienced the parents who had to pay for extra childcare. We had to pay staff, catering services and cleaning services. It came to £4,000 in total. It’s the sort of thing you don’t think about until it happens.”

During December’s incident, plain-clothed policemen caught the suspected thieves in the act, with pipes allegedly running from a van to the fuel tank of the school.

The officers arrested two people on suspicion of theft, and when a third man arrived in another vehicle he was also arrested on suspicion of being involved.

West Yorkshire Police’s helicopter spotted a fourth man on the A19, and arrested him in connection with the incident minutes later. The four men were all released on police bail. The school has now had to take action to prevent further incidents, with new security measures already fitted to the oil tank.

Ms Steward said: “We’ve already had some security work done, but we have been fortunate that the North Yorkshire County Council scheme we pay into for the maintenance of the school has paid to cover the cost.”

Anyone with information about the theft should phone North Yorkshire Police on 101.