Ulster Unionist Lagan Valley MLA Jenny Palmer has branded a new PSNI pilot scheme to deal with people who leave petrol stations without paying for their fuel as disgraceful.
Mrs Palmer said:
“The pilot scheme has been introduced in two districts - Lisburn & Castlereagh, and Ards & North Down where petrol station retailers will be responsible for tracing drivers who do not pay. Letters were sent to petrol stations in the two districts in July explaining the change, which came into effect at the start of August.
“Under the new process, it is understood petrol retailers will have to send a letter to the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Agency (DVLA) to get the information on the car, which incurs a £2.50 fee and tell them that there has been a criminal act.
“Retailers will then have to write to the driver to ask them if they were in the petrol station on a certain date and to ask them to pay for the fuel.
“This is quite frankly a disgraceful scheme and it can only lead to an increase in theft as petty criminals will take advantage of the huge amount of red tape which petrol retailers will have to trawl through to get their money back.
“It is all very well for the Police to claim that their research showed up to 85% of drive-offs are ‘genuine mistakes’ that do not require their input. But this so-called pilot scheme reeks of the PSNI washing their hands of the situation facing petrol retailers.
“The pilot scheme should be scrapped as soon as possible before it causes major embarrassment to the police and a bureaucratic nightmare for petrol retailers.”