SINN Fein councillor Colly Kelly says there has bee a huge uptake in an initiative to thwart oil thieves stalking the Creggan estate in Derry.
“I was contacted by a number of residents just before Christmas who had home heating oil stolen from their homes in the Rinmore Drive, Creggan Heights and Oakfield Park areas of Creggan.
“And in recent days there has been a number of thefts in Culmore.
“It’s absolutely despicable that people would do something like this and it caused a bit of fear in the locality due to the frequency of these incidents
“There’s a high level of older people who live in these areas of Creggan and it precisely because of all these factors that we teamed up with PCSP to put a stop to these thefts.
“This initiative has been a great success with over 100 homes getting oil locks and nearly 50 bin locks.
“If you or someone you know is concerned about becoming a victim to oil thieves you can now contact the PCSP and they will arrange for someone to visit your home and install a security lock to your oil tank.
“The lock and its installation are completely free of charge.
“The lock works when it is secured to the top of an oil tank using a pad lock,” added Councillor Kelly.
