Forecourt Eye gives UK sites free crime-reporting access

SOFIAH NICHOLE SALIVIO

News Editor

Forecourt Eye will give more than 2,000 UK forecourts free access to a new crime-reporting platform through a partnership with Facewatch. The move comes as unpaid fuel incidents remain above earlier levels and operators report wider retail crime and abuse against staff.

The new system will be added to existing Forecourt Eye tablets used at filling stations, allowing operators to manage fuel theft, shop theft and police reports on one platform.

Forecourt Eye’s analysis of 550 forecourts found unpaid fuel incidents averaged 189 a day in the five months after 28 February, up from 158 a day in the previous five months. Extrapolated across the UK’s 8,350 forecourts, that suggests daily incidents rose from about 2,400 to 2,872.

The estimated volume of fuel involved rose 24% from 87,800 litres to 108,900 litres a day. Its estimated daily value increased 48% from about GBP £131,000 to GBP £194,000, equivalent to roughly GBP £70.7 million a year if the current rate continues.

The figures point to a rising cost burden for operators as pump prices and incident levels increase at the same time. According to Forecourt Eye, unpaid fuel incidents, including drive-offs and declarations of no means of payment, are running 20% above the level seen before fuel prices rose sharply following the conflict in Iran.

Broader Crime

Operators say the problem now extends beyond the pumps. As forecourts have expanded into convenience retailing, they are also dealing with shop theft, intimidation and violence against frontline workers.

Michelle Henchoz, Managing Director of Forecourt Eye, set out the rationale for the tie-up. “Our customers have told us they increasingly want one place to manage everything from unpaid fuel and ANPR intelligence through to shop theft, violence and police reporting. This partnership delivers exactly that while fitting seamlessly into the way they already work. As offending becomes more organised and more sophisticated, operators need joined-up technology that helps them protect both their forecourt and their convenience store.”

Forecourt Eye already provides a tablet-based system that retailers use to handle incidents and recover payments from motorists who say they cannot pay. It also uses automatic number plate recognition technology to flag vehicles linked to previous offending.

From September, customers will receive an additional app on the same devices, giving them access to Facewatch’s crime-management system. Retailers will not need to install live facial recognition cameras to use the reporting platform.

Shared Intelligence

The partnership also links two separate intelligence pools. Forecourt Eye says it holds a private database of more than 300,000 vehicle registrations associated with fuel theft, while Facewatch maintains a national database of retail offenders.

Nick Fisher, Chief Executive of Facewatch, said: “The distinction between fuel crime and retail crime has largely disappeared. Modern forecourts face the same prolific offenders, violence and abuse experienced across the wider retail sector. By combining Forecourt Eye’s expertise on the forecourt with Facewatch’s crime-management capability, we’re giving operators a single platform to prevent crime, manage investigations and help police tackle repeat and violent offenders.”

Operators that choose to add Facewatch’s live facial recognition system will be able to combine number plate recognition on the forecourt with facial recognition inside the shop, creating coverage from a vehicle’s arrival on site to a customer’s departure from the store.

Facewatch says its wider retail network already spans more than 125 retailers across thousands of stores in the UK. Its system generated more than 500,000 real-time alerts of known offenders in 2025.

The Petrol Retailers Association said the change reflects how crime on forecourts has evolved as sites have become mixed fuel and convenience businesses. Staff are increasingly exposed to anger from customers over prices and to repeat offending that mirrors patterns seen across the wider retail sector.

Gordon Balmer, Executive Director of the Petrol Retailers Association, said: “Today’s forecourts are dealing with far more than fuel theft. Our members are reporting increasing levels of abuse and aggression towards colleagues who are simply doing their jobs and have no influence over the price displayed on the forecourt. Crime on Britain’s forecourts no longer begins and ends at the pump. Whether it is unpaid fuel, shop theft, organised crime or unacceptable abuse of staff, operators need joined-up solutions that recognise how these issues increasingly overlap. Bringing together technologies that help retailers prevent crime, manage incidents and support police investigations is a positive step for the industry.”