A LITHUANIAN lorry driver has pleaded not guilty to attempting to steal £250,000 from a fuel pipeline in Brentwood.

Jonas Vainauskas, 55, appeared in Basildon Crown Court yesterday to deny digging up part of a field, off Bird lane in Brentwood, and siphoning off 600 litres of fuel from the line running beneath.

The high-pressure line is owned by the British Pipeline Agency and runs from Canvey to a refinery in Hertfordshire.

His trial is set to begin in the week commencing November 24.