Police nvestigating the theft of about 280 litres of diesel from a truck parked in a transport yard at Ranfurly say the amount stolen could be higher as 10 other trucks were also tampered with.
Senior Constable Darren Cox, of Omakau, said the 280 litres was almost the entire contents of one McLaren Transport truck's fuel tank and it would have taken ''quite a while'' for the offender or offenders to siphon the fuel.
The theft happened at the Mitchell St yard sometime between Thursday night and Saturday afternoon. Based on the price in Ranfurly for diesel ($1.53 a litre), the fuel was worth $428.40.
''Another 10 or so trucks in the yard were also tampered with, so more diesel, in smaller amounts, might have also been taken from them,'' Snr Const Cox said.
He was following some positive leads but wanted to hear from anyone with information about the matter.
''It will have taken a while to gravity feed that amount of fuel, so the offender or offenders would have been at the yard for quite some time.''
It was timely to remind other transport companies to be vigilant about yard security, to ensure fuel tanks were locked and to closely monitor the fuel being used in vehicles, Snr Const Cox said.
