A thief who stole more than £4,000 worth of fuel from petrol stations across Solihull and Birmingham has been jailed.

Aman Khan was sentenced to three years and two months in prison after being convicted of more than 48 fuel thefts.

On 6 September, the 40-year-old from Alum Rock was in police custody for an unrelated matter when PC Peter Hewer recognised him from CCTV he had been viewing following a recent bilking that had taken place in Shirley.

PC Hewer trawled through dozens of CCTV clips of thefts from other petrol stations and was able to identify Khan as being the person responsible.

The fuel thefts spanned more than 12 months with Khan changing the vehicle and registration plates each time. He even went back to some places more than once to commit further offences.

Khan was arrested but denied that he was the man from the CCTV, however he was found guilty at Birmingham Crown Court.

PC Hewer, from force CID, said: “This man had a total disregard for the law and I have no doubt he would still be carrying further thefts had he not been caught. It needs to be made clear that if you steal fuel the consequences are very serious.

“People can be quite dismissive of fuel theft, believing it’s largely a victimless crime.

“However, the reality is these offences are often committed by people who’ve stolen number plates from other cars or even stolen vehicles so offenders have a negative impact on the wider community and tend to be linked to other criminality.”