Police in Bradford are signing up to a pager scheme in a bid to stop motorists who fill up with fuel and drive off without paying.

Officers from Toller Lane and local petrol stations will form a Forecourt Watch to cut down on garage-related crime - which accounts for 16 per cent of all recorded offences in the division.

Members of the scheme will be issued with a pager for passing on information quickly about suspects and cars involved.

Details of the incident will be phoned to a special number where an operator transmits them simultaneously to every member within 60 seconds.

The pagers will also be linked to Toller Lane Police, giving officers immediate updates on what is happening.

The crimes - which include making off without paying, credit card fraud and theft from garage shops - are estimated to cost each petrol station in the Bradford district more than £3,500 a year. In the first five months of this year there were 353 offences reported to police.

Some petrol stations have responded by switching to a pre-pay system for fuel, but others fear that it would put many customers off and give rival garages an unfair advantage.

Toller Lane crime reduction officer, PC Stephen Steeples, said a co-ordinated response was needed by as many petrol retailers as possible. "This new scheme will help us circulate information very quickly. We hope to create a sustainable partnership between garages in the district and the police so information about all types of crime can be exchanged."

Sixteen petrol stations in the Keighley police division have signed with an identical Forecourt Watch since it was launched at the end of last year.

e-mail: joanne.earp

@bradford.newsquest.co.uk

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.