Almost 1,000 Derbyshire people ran off without paying for dinner last year, stats reveal

Home Office figures reveal Derbyshire police recorded 949 'making off without payment offences' in the 12 months to September 2018.

This was a decrease of four per cent compared to three years ago, bucking the national trend.

However, the proportion of offenders being charged by police has fallen.

In 2014-15, the police brought charges in seven per cent of cases.

But by 2017-18, this had fallen to four per cent, with charges brought just 40 times.

Offences have risen by 48 per cent across England and Wales in the last three years, while the proportion of offenders being charged has fallen from just under five per cent to less than two per cent.

Federation of Small Businesses chairman, Mike Cherry, said the rise was being exacerbated by police cuts.

He said: “This can’t be allowed to continue – lots of businesses have very tight margins and it’s time to stop tolerating opportunistic thieves taking food off the family table.

“If the police are not able to meet the needs of businesses across the country, then the Government should step in and give the authorities the funding they need to tackle this problem."

The British Oil Security Syndicate, which helps recover debts for petrol stations, estimates that drive-offs at garage forecourts cost retailers around £20 million a year.

Some police forces claim such incidents are a civil rather than criminal matter and refuse to investigate, it added.

Executive director of The British Oil Security Syndicate, Kevin Eastwood, said: “What we would stress with the police is that we don’t want to waste their time and we don’t want them to be debt collectors.

“But we do want to work with them to drive down forecourt crime and stop criminals who are active in our communities."

Wayne Casey, from the National Taxi Association, said there is an 'obvious difference' in the way some police forces approach fare dodgers.

He said: "The police are being stretched to the bone so it’s annoying for taxi drivers but you can understand it.

"Drivers do tend to take it personally though, because you’ve essentially just given up your time to take somebody home for free."

The vast majority of cases in Derbyshire – 66 per cent – were closed without a suspect being identified.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "These offences place a significant burden on businesses, both in terms of financial loss and staff resources.

“We expect the police to take all reported crimes seriously and it is the responsibility of chief constables and police and crime commissioners to make sure criminal cases are investigated properly."

He added that police forces had been given their largest funding increase since 2010.