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Pumping gas into a car and speeding away without paying is on the rise in London, with an average of more than two such crimes every single day wasting hundreds of police hours.

City hall wants to crack down with the same kind of rule staff say virtually eliminated stealing gas in Western Canada: a requirement to pay at the pump or the till before you fill your tank.

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Save for Mayor Ed Holder – who argued city hall shouldn’t intervene in a free market – city politicians were on board.

“The trend of gas thefts in the city was surprising and alarming to us,” bylaw boss Orest Katolyk told politicians, calling the proposed bylaw change “a good common-sense solution.” City hall uses business bylaws to protect consumers and also to help “suppress crime.”

That, along with a plan to tighten rules for selling metal to scrap yards, got the backing of the community and protective services committee on Wednesday.

Ward 3 Coun. Mo Salih, former chair of the police board, described it as “totally preventable” crime that can help reclaim thousands of hours of police time.

Last year, there were 720 reports of gas theft in London, nearly double what seen in 2016, with 380 cases.