Many people do not realise that their number plates are read by cameras all the time. During an average journey their car will be logged several times by cameras which are used in garages ( to prevent fuel theft ), anprs cameras ( which check tax and insurance ) , speed cameras ( not all of them flash, average speed and truvelo cameras give no indications they are working ) and cctv cameras installed by councils and police in streets and car parks.
With petrol and diesel prices at an all time high fuel theft is on the increase , so garage owners have been forced to protect their precious fuel with the latest technology. Most forecourts are now equipped with cctv which reads all cars number plates. Some systems simply make a recording which can be used as evidence should a motorists drive away without paying but the more advanced systems read the registration number and compare it with a database of known offending cars. With oil expected to hit $150 a barrel this summer this type of theft is bound to increase.