Hullbridge: Thieves steal diesel worth more than £8,000 Published duration 19 January 2014

image copyright Google image caption Thieves used specialist equipment to steal diesel worth more than £8,000 from tanks at the service station

Thieves have stolen thousands of litres of diesel with a retail value of more than £8,000 from a filling station.

They used specialist equipment to pump the fuel from an underground tank at Hullbridge, near Rayleigh, Essex.

Staff at the Coventry Hill Service Station, Lower Road, discovered the theft at 08:30 GMT on Sunday.

Two men are thought to have parked a Luton van on the forecourt for about two hours and pumped the fuel into tanks inside.

The truck was there from shortly after midnight on Saturday.

Checks showed 5,620 (1,236 gallons) of fuel had been taken.

Police want to hear from anybody in a vehicle that drove by while the theft was taking place, and any pedestrians who may have walked past.

Pc Ahren Perry, of Essex Police, said: "We also hope that drivers might remember seeing the van after it was loaded with fuel because 5,620 litres of diesel fuel would have been a heavy load for a Luton van and it would have been very low on its suspension."