Oil thieves have struck in the Cotswolds.

Substantial amounts of oil were stolen from two houses last week.

Thieves struck between 11pm on Thursday, October 28 and 7am on October 29 in Ampney Crusis, and around the same time in Coln St Alwyns - with the discovery also being made on October 29.

In both instances large quantities of oil were taken from residential properties.

If you saw or heard anything call 101 quoting incident number 0094 of October 29 (Ampney Crusis) or incident number 0132 of November 3 (Coln St Alwyns).

While it may seem like an unlikely target for criminals, the theft of heating oil is not uncommon - particularly in rural areas at this time of the year. Domestic oil tanks can contain many hundreds of pounds worth of oil.

And in 2020 Cotswold police received a number of reports of used cooking oil being stolen from hotels and pubs.