Suspected fuel thief hid from Essex police inside the wheel of a lorry

Police have found a suspected lorry fuel thief in an unusual place - hiding under the lorry itself inside the fifth wheel.Officers from Essex Police's Vision Zero patrols came across a stolen vehicle in Basildon that was allegedly being used in the theft of fuel from the lorry.

Essex Police's roads policing team, an operational support group and police dogs team investigated the scene and discovered a person hiding in the fifth wheel beneath the lorry.

The suspect was arrested and taken into custody.

Essex Police said on Twitter: "Whilst on #VisionZero patrols some great team work from @EPRoadsPolicing, @EssexOSG, @EPDogs disturbed this stolen vehicle stealing fuel from this lorry in #BASILDON. Suspect located hiding under the lorry in the fifth wheel."The Vision Zero Network is a collaborative campaign intended to help communities reach their goal of "Vision Zero" by eliminating traffic fatalities and severe injuries.

Essex Police said that while considerable success was made in reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries on the roads of Essex between 2005 and 2020, there were still 42 deaths and 675 serious injuries in 2020."This is too many deaths and injuries, and the partnership has adopted an ambitious target to achieve zero deaths and serious injuries by 2040," said the force. "In addition, an interim target of reducing deaths and serious injuries by 50% has also been adopted by 2030."We cannot achieve these targets alone and we need the support of all residents, businesses and road users."

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