A GREEDY thief helped himself to petrol three times at the same garage.

Police have issued photos of a man believed to have stolen the fuel from the BP Express station in Cranfield Park Road, Wickford.

The thief struck three times in three weeks, driving off with petrol worth a total of £183.

In the first theft, the man topped his black Vauxhall Vectra up with £61 of fuel and fled without paying, at 5.35am on July 20.

Almost exactly a week later, at 5.50am on July 27, the man returned to fill his car up with £58 of fuel and again did not pay.

Then another week later, at 5.30am on August 3, he returned again and poured in £64 of fuel without paying the garage.

Investigating officer, PC Sean Judge, of Wickford police, said: “In all three incidents, the number plates shown on the car had been stolen so whoever is responsible for these crimes is clearly planning ahead.

“People may think stealing petrol isn’t a big deal, but it costs companies a large amount of money each year and a lot of police time to investigate it.

“The victims of the stolen number plates also have the hassle of reporting them stolen and paying out for new ones, which is totally unacceptable.”

The male suspect was aged between 30 and 35 and about 5ft 11in tall.

He was wearing a dark hat, dark trousers and a high visibility jacket during one theft. In another he was wearing a dark blue tracksuit top with a white band around the bottom, white sleeves, a black beanie hat, blue bottoms with white stripes down the sides and white trainers.

Anyone with any information can call police on 0300 3334444.