BOSS, the British Oil Security Syndicate, has announced a major success on behalf of fuel retailers by securing agreement from the DVLA to enable service stations to request and access registered vehicle keeper details from its database.

Previously, retailers have been unable to access details from DVLA’s vehicle register in situations when a driver filled up with fuel, but only paid for shop items, as the non-payment for fuel was invariably deemed a cashier error by police and the DVLA.

Following a campaign by BOSS involving detailed negotiations with DVLA representatives, an agreement has been reached meaning that retailers are now considered to have reasonable cause to require registered keeper details. The new agreement begins with immediate effect.

Kevin Eastwood, BOSS executive director, said: We have argued long and hard to bring about this change, which will tremendously improve the ability of retailers to pursue robustly those who deliberately fail to pay for fuel."