Thieves steal ‘£250,000’ of diesel from high-security Royal Navy base

Rod Minchin

7 April 2022 at 4:18 am·1-min read

Fuel was stolen from tankers at HMNB Devonport in Plymouth (PA) (PA Archive)

An investigation is under way after thieves stole a huge volume of diesel from a high-security naval base.

They made off with fuel from tankers at HMNB Devonport in Plymouth that was used to power electricity generators at the base.

The Sun newspaper reported the thieves siphoned off diesel worth more than £250,000, which belonged to contactor Babcock International.

The stolen fuel was powering generators likely to have been used on HMS Bulwark (Dave Griffiths/MoD Crown copyright/PA) (PA Media)

The newspaper said the alarm was raised when civilian guards performed a spot check on a civilian tanker driver trying to leave the base.

The stolen fuel was due to fill up generators powering HMS Bulwark, a 19,560-tonne assault ship.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “The Ministry of Defence is aware of an incident last year involving the alleged theft of fuel from a contractor within HMNB Devonport.

“There was no disruption to defence operations and the Ministry of Defence has no further comment.”

A spokesman for Babcock International declined to comment.