:00:00. > :00:00.Welcome to Inside Out from Sutton Look North. Wel
:00:07. > :00:24.Welcome to Inside Out from Sutton Bank in North Yorkshire.
:00:25. > :00:45.Good evening. I'm Toby Foster. Beside me lies the Vale of York and
:00:46. > :00:47.to the east the Vale of Pickering. But soon this beautiful countryside
:00:48. > :00:50.could be covered in fracking bills, to shale gas lies beneath. We
:00:51. > :00:51.investigate claims unregulated fracking could lead to an
:00:52. > :00:54.environmental disaster. Also tonight, we join the
:00:55. > :00:55.investigators trying to track down the energy thieves.
:00:56. > :01:08.It had a fake seal. An oil industry expert has warned
:01:09. > :01:12.Inside Out that unregulated fracking by energy companies could lead to an
:01:13. > :01:14.environment disaster. With hundreds of exploration licences already
:01:15. > :01:17.granted to energy companies and more in the pipeline, Danni Hewson's been
:01:18. > :01:29.looking at this controversial method of extracting shale gas.
:01:30. > :01:39.CHANTING. On the battle ground where environmentalists and big business
:01:40. > :01:47.square up, this is the front line. Shale is important for this country.
:01:48. > :01:51.I can't see a huge shale gas industry developing. Yorkshire isn't
:01:52. > :01:54.Texas. As energy companies prepare to drill
:01:55. > :01:58.across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire who'll be making sure it's safe?
:01:59. > :02:03.Nothing would go ahead if there were environmental dangers. I think
:02:04. > :02:07.people can be reassured by that. You cannot put a price on children's
:02:08. > :02:10.health. It doesn't matter what the money is, unless they are going to
:02:11. > :02:12.do it right, we can't have it, it's too dangerous.
:02:13. > :02:15.All that people have to ask themselves, if the government is
:02:16. > :02:18.having to bribe communities to accept this, something is very
:02:19. > :02:21.wrong. Is the government pushing ahead with
:02:22. > :02:25.fracking at any cost? How can we be sure our water will not be polluted
:02:26. > :02:38.and health affected? And will the mistakes made in the USA be repeated
:02:39. > :02:41.here? Mining companies are lining up to
:02:42. > :02:45.drill the rock thousands of feet beneath us so they can sell the gas
:02:46. > :02:47.that's been locked in there for millions of years. From here in
:02:48. > :02:51.Scarborough on the Yorkshire coast, across the country to here in
:02:52. > :02:54.Blackpool, a band of shale rock as much as a mile deep stretches the
:02:55. > :02:59.width of England thousands of feet beneath us. It's known as the
:03:00. > :03:02.Bowland shale. The 200 licences granted to explore for shale gas in
:03:03. > :03:09.Yorkshire and Lincolnshire so far are seen here in red. The blue area
:03:10. > :03:13.indicates how far that might extend. And this is what all the fuss is
:03:14. > :03:16.about. A geological quirk means this shale at Mam Tor in the Peak
:03:17. > :03:23.District is on the surface rather than deep underground. But exposed
:03:24. > :03:27.to the air, this shale no longer contains gas. The only way of
:03:28. > :03:30.extracting that is by fracking or hydraulic fracturing. Banned in some
:03:31. > :03:32.countries including France, Germany, Bulgaria, Romania, and some states
:03:33. > :03:35.of the US, fracking involves pumping pumping millions of litres of high
:03:36. > :03:42.pressure water and chemical mixture deep underground and extracting the
:03:43. > :03:45.gas from the well. Test drilling for shale gas in
:03:46. > :03:49.Lancashire has been suspended after a small earthquake...
:03:50. > :03:55.But the first time a high pressure fracking procedure was carried out
:03:56. > :03:58.in the UK, it didn't end well. The earthquake triggered by the UK's
:03:59. > :04:02.first foray into fracking effectively stopped the industry in
:04:03. > :04:06.its tracks. But that is all changing.
:04:07. > :04:10.For two decades, Mike Hill has worked on oil and gas rigs all over
:04:11. > :04:14.the world. He has fracked for gas in Africa and was aboard the drilling
:04:15. > :04:16.rig when it caused the earthquake in Blackpool just miles from his home.
:04:17. > :04:19.His subsequent recommendation for a seismic activity warning system has
:04:20. > :04:22.been adopted by the Government. But he says a further 11 safety
:04:23. > :04:33.recommendations he made have been ignored despite three years of
:04:34. > :04:37.lobbying. We are in a situation in the UK where we are going to have
:04:38. > :04:39.unregulated fracking and not only regulated, uninspected and
:04:40. > :04:42.unmonitored. I want fracking done right. And I want it regulated and
:04:43. > :04:48.monitored. If you are not going to do that, you should not be doing it
:04:49. > :04:51.at all. The fracking industry in the United
:04:52. > :04:55.States was exempted from water and air pollution laws in some states.
:04:56. > :04:58.More than a decade after the industry took off in North America,
:04:59. > :05:00.there have been a raft of independent studies into the health
:05:01. > :05:07.implications of living near shale gas sites. In a recent report,
:05:08. > :05:10.independent researchers revealed that the health of new born babies
:05:11. > :05:13.within two miles of fracking sites can be severely compromised. Others
:05:14. > :05:15.directly link fracking chemicals with birth defects as well as
:05:16. > :05:21.neurological and respiratory problems. The film Gasland which
:05:22. > :05:23.shows igniting tap water has been dismissed by some as activist
:05:24. > :05:26.propaganda but independent research by Duke University did find
:05:27. > :05:34.dangerous and combustible levels of methane in drinking water near
:05:35. > :05:37.fracking sites. This directly contradicts the industry's own
:05:38. > :05:40.research. In the UK, there are no specific regulations designed for
:05:41. > :05:49.the shale gas industry. Current ones are 25 years old, and were designed
:05:50. > :06:00.for the offshore industry. There's a number of dangers from fracking. In
:06:01. > :06:03.terms of water contamination, when you frack a well and you pump
:06:04. > :06:06.millions of gallons of chemicals and water at high`pressure, the bulk of
:06:07. > :06:11.that fluid goes into the shale formation. Fracking fluid contains
:06:12. > :06:14.lead at 1500 times the level of safe drinking water, it contains cadmium,
:06:15. > :06:30.radioactive material, and all these things flow back, hopefully, up the
:06:31. > :06:33.centre of the well. However, you have drilled through rocks to get to
:06:34. > :06:36.the shale, you have then linked those shales and all the potential
:06:37. > :06:39.toxic fracking fluid directly to the ground water at the surface. The
:06:40. > :06:41.only thing protecting that water from contamination is the cement
:06:42. > :06:50.around the borehole and around the casings.
:06:51. > :06:54.The Health and Safety Executive is in charge of making sure these wells
:06:55. > :06:57.don't leak. But they don't, in fact, inspect them in person. They will
:06:58. > :07:00.rely on reports from expert examiners who are often employed by
:07:01. > :07:03.the gas companies themselves. But Energy Minister Mikaeel Fallon
:07:04. > :07:08.says the regulatory regime is robust.
:07:09. > :07:11.It says it doesn't have the resources to check each individual
:07:12. > :07:19.well, it would be impossible for them. It's not possible for the
:07:20. > :07:22.Health and Safety Executive to stand and inspect every single factory in
:07:23. > :07:26.this country, or every single chemical plant. The onus of
:07:27. > :07:31.responsibility, rightly, has to be placed on the owner and operator of
:07:32. > :07:36.that site. They must take the legal responsibility for compliance. But I
:07:37. > :07:39.assure you that the Health and Safety Executive have all the
:07:40. > :07:43.resources they need to come in and check it's being done properly. I'm
:07:44. > :07:47.satisfied that the regulatory system we have at the moment is sufficient.
:07:48. > :07:53.We've added new safeguards and I think we've got the balance right.
:07:54. > :08:01.Protecting the environment and the local community but ensuring that
:08:02. > :08:07.the burden of regulation is not so oppressive that it stops any kind of
:08:08. > :08:18.exploration, which some people who are explored `` opposed shale gas
:08:19. > :08:21.would want to do. The other main regulatory body is
:08:22. > :08:24.the Environment Agency. It's in charge of ensuring the toxic water
:08:25. > :08:27.that flows back is disposed of safely. Having lost 1,500 jobs,
:08:28. > :08:29.there are doubts it has the expertise or manpower to regulate
:08:30. > :08:32.effectively. Questions remain about how millions of litres of water with
:08:33. > :08:39.radioactive contamination would be dealt with. The EA is also supposed
:08:40. > :08:42.to monitor abandoned wells. They are totally clueless when it comes to
:08:43. > :08:47.what happens to a well after it has been abandoned. All the equipment,
:08:48. > :08:54.the instrumentation and hardware that is used to drill wells, they do
:08:55. > :09:01.not have that equipment. They are not monitoring these wells, they are
:09:02. > :09:12.just being left. The key work they do in protecting the environment, I
:09:13. > :09:15.can assure you that there `` that there is no risk of contamination of
:09:16. > :09:19.water supply and that any waste involved has two be properly
:09:20. > :09:29.disposed of. These are legally binding requirements.
:09:30. > :09:41.This is Kirby Misperton in North Yorkshire. Test ruling has been
:09:42. > :09:44.carried out here. Screened by those trees just behind me is the site of
:09:45. > :09:47.test drilling carried out by Viking Gas last October. Officially, the
:09:48. > :09:50.company says it has no interest in shale gas. But its own planning
:09:51. > :09:53.application appears to contradict that as it specifically targets the
:09:54. > :09:55.Bowland shale. Viking Gas wouldn't give an interview but did eventually
:09:56. > :10:00.concede it is now analysing shale samples with a view to further
:10:01. > :10:03.drilling. A mile away, Lendales Farm produces beef cattle. It's been run
:10:04. > :10:12.by the same family for three generations. If they could prove 100
:10:13. > :10:19.per cent that it was safe, yes, I would approve of it. Our animals in
:10:20. > :10:23.the summer drink from the river and if it gets into the water courses,
:10:24. > :10:26.it could affect the drinking water. This is why farmers have to adhere
:10:27. > :10:29.to stringent rules so we don't affect the water courses and I think
:10:30. > :10:39.the fracking companies should do the same. You would hope the council
:10:40. > :10:42.would be on board. And they would be monitoring it with the environment
:10:43. > :10:48.agency. Whether that is going to happen, we do not know. No`one from
:10:49. > :10:51.North Yorkshire County Council would give us an interview, but the
:10:52. > :10:54.council leader did tell Inside Out that there was no official policy on
:10:55. > :10:59.fracking and that each application would be considered on its merits.
:11:00. > :11:04.We are announcing that the local council should keep 100% of the
:11:05. > :11:08.business rates. Some have dismissed as bribery the Government's new
:11:09. > :11:11.incentives for councils. In York, there are currently three licence
:11:12. > :11:17.blocks owned by Dart Energy who have indicated their intention to apply
:11:18. > :11:22.for exploratory drilling permits. We do not know what effect it has on
:11:23. > :11:32.seismic activity in a heritage city. We do not know what it does to the
:11:33. > :11:33.water supply. The evidence of an water supply. The evidence of an
:11:34. > :11:35.energy panacea does not seem to be there. I take with a pinch of salt
:11:36. > :11:43.the idea that we can take business rates. What is the difference
:11:44. > :11:49.between fracking and the forms of renewable energy and can we keep
:11:50. > :11:52.those business rates? I can understand people being against
:11:53. > :12:03.fracking, but planning departments are finding it difficult to find
:12:04. > :12:06.ways of upholding the policy. The pad is built, the well is drilled,
:12:07. > :12:10.the equipment is on and the operator is ready to frack. It would be a
:12:11. > :12:14.very brave council that then says, "No. You have gone that far, now
:12:15. > :12:16.stop, we are not letting you go any further." Because you can be sure
:12:17. > :12:20.that operator immediately appeals to the Secretary of State and you can
:12:21. > :12:22.be sure that that decision is immediately overturned. The prospect
:12:23. > :12:25.of lower gas bills has been dismissed by some ministers and even
:12:26. > :12:31.by the Government's key adviser, Lord Browne, also chairman of
:12:32. > :12:35.fracking company Cuadrilla. It could bring 74,000 jobs, over ?3 billion
:12:36. > :12:40.of investment. And there is scepticism about how many jobs would
:12:41. > :12:45.be created by a shale gas industry in the UK. Mike Hill says that once
:12:46. > :12:51.the Wells are up and running, most of the work is automated. You need a
:12:52. > :12:58.maximum of 50 guys to work 3,000 plus wells, C rollicking long`term
:12:59. > :13:02.at a small number of jobs. `` so you are looking at. The British
:13:03. > :13:05.Geological Survey was asked by the Government to estimate the extent of
:13:06. > :13:07.the Bowland shale and calculated a figure of 1,300 trillion cubic
:13:08. > :13:12.metres, but despite that, they doubt whether the industry is viable in
:13:13. > :13:16.this country. We shouldn't be distracted by this enormous figure.
:13:17. > :13:20.We might be lucky to get 1% out, we might get 0%. We have to be
:13:21. > :13:24.realistic about this. It is quite hard to imagine, you know, a big
:13:25. > :13:27.shale gas industry in a country so densely populated ` more so full of
:13:28. > :13:34.people who love their landscape and who value it. Across the Pennines,
:13:35. > :13:36.the IGas compound at Barton Moss, near Salford, is effectively
:13:37. > :13:43.besieged by the protestors camped outside. This convoy of lorries is
:13:44. > :13:46.just a few hundred yards from the expoloratory drilling site. That
:13:47. > :13:53.short distance will take over an hour. Keep walking. As long as they
:13:54. > :13:56.keep moving, this obstruction is not illegal, and for the protestors, it
:13:57. > :14:02.is the ideal way of making even the search for gas as difficult as
:14:03. > :14:10.possible. They waste eight million gallons of water per well. 3,000
:14:11. > :14:12.Wells, that is a lot of water. The lorries pass what has become a
:14:13. > :14:16.permanent protest camp, attracting campaigners from all over the
:14:17. > :14:19.country. They have been buoyed by the success of a similar protest in
:14:20. > :14:24.Balcombe, in Sussex, which stopped fracking operations. They see that
:14:25. > :14:28.battle as a template for stopping a whole industry in its tracks. It is
:14:29. > :14:33.not just the camps, it is all the local people. In Balcombe, the local
:14:34. > :14:36.residents did an amazing job. They were just challenging the
:14:37. > :14:40.Environment Agency permits and just challenging the whole process.
:14:41. > :14:46.Inside the compound, there is little activity today, despite the protests
:14:47. > :14:52.outside. Looking around, I mean, it is like an army camp in enemy
:14:53. > :14:56.territory. Can it ever be worth it? This is the first time we have ever
:14:57. > :14:58.had to resort to putting up some security around it of this sort,
:14:59. > :15:02.this order of magnitude, and that has been because of some of the
:15:03. > :15:06.activities of people who have a legitimate right to protest to the
:15:07. > :15:13.idea of fracking. But at the moment, IGas isn't even fracking on
:15:14. > :15:18.this site. It can only do so after a further planning application. We
:15:19. > :15:21.believe that it is worth pursuing this, because it has got an enormous
:15:22. > :15:24.benefit not just for the country as a whole, in terms of energy
:15:25. > :15:31.security, but for the region, in terms of jobs, training, employment
:15:32. > :15:37.and everything that goes with it. People are worried that their water
:15:38. > :15:40.is going to be contaminated. Should they be worried? There has been
:15:41. > :15:42.evidence of some contamination, but that has been caused because the
:15:43. > :15:47.well has not been constructed properly. There is absolutely no
:15:48. > :15:52.evidence that it has been caused by fracking per se. In terms of the
:15:53. > :15:54.water specifically, we do our own baseline monitoring of that,
:15:55. > :16:00.pre`arriving on site, during and post. Many believe independent
:16:01. > :16:05.testing is the only way to hold energy companies to account over
:16:06. > :16:08.water contamination. To that end, the British Geological Survey is
:16:09. > :16:10.conducting its own tests on water supplies across the country in
:16:11. > :16:15.advance of any shale gas extraction. These tests on the North
:16:16. > :16:22.York Moors will establish methane levels before any fracking is
:16:23. > :16:26.carried out. I have no issue with fracking going ahead, but not going
:16:27. > :16:30.ahead unregulated. It has to be controlled, it has to be monitored,
:16:31. > :16:34.it has to be inspected. Otherwise the risks to the public and the
:16:35. > :16:37.environment are very severe. It is an absurd situation to be in. It is
:16:38. > :16:42.a situation where the industry is more pro`regulation than the
:16:43. > :16:47.Government. The industry is less pro`fracking than the Government. It
:16:48. > :16:51.is a completely weird and absurd situation to be in, but that is the
:16:52. > :16:54.situation we are presently in. So it is dangerous. It is dangerous for
:16:55. > :16:58.the public in Yorkshire and, indeed, across the UK. Because if we get
:16:59. > :17:02.fracking by stealth, we also don't get any regulations either. People
:17:03. > :17:07.get concerned about whether we should be burning gas and what about
:17:08. > :17:10.renewables? The reality is we need energy and we need various types of
:17:11. > :17:14.energy and gas is much cleaner than coal and gas is a way of, as we
:17:15. > :17:21.continue to grow the renewable side of things, it can be part of the
:17:22. > :17:27.overall energy mix. The Government wants the fracking industry to
:17:28. > :17:29.succeed in this country. Those who oppose it have a massive fight on
:17:30. > :17:41.their hands to stop it. If you have any views on fracking or
:17:42. > :17:42.know about a story we should be covering, please contact us on
:17:43. > :17:51.Facebook or Twitter. Now, whilst fracking is being touted
:17:52. > :17:55.as a solution to sky`high energy prices, in the meantime, most of us
:17:56. > :18:01.are just trying to find clever ways of keeping our bills down. Some,
:18:02. > :18:06.however, are taking matters into their own hands and stealing gas and
:18:07. > :18:10.electricity. Mark Jordan has been finding out more.
:18:11. > :18:17.Energy prices are making headlines, as our bills hit an all`time high.
:18:18. > :18:22.Honest households pay up, but ?30 a year of our bill is paying for
:18:23. > :18:25.stolen power. The meter has definitely been interfered with,
:18:26. > :18:30.because it has a fake seal in the top. This is the story of the power
:18:31. > :18:34.thieves and the people who track them down.
:18:35. > :18:40.The British Gas training academy in Leicester. Here, engineers learn how
:18:41. > :18:46.to spot tampering of gas and electric supply. It has never been
:18:47. > :18:49.more needed. A difficult economic climate and more people feeling that
:18:50. > :18:55.this is the only way that they can get their energy. I think the trend
:18:56. > :18:58.is upwards. This is a huge problem and we believe perhaps that ?500
:18:59. > :19:02.million worth of gas and electricity is stolen across the industry across
:19:03. > :19:05.the year. In terms of what that means for a customer, potentially
:19:06. > :19:08.?30 a year on their bills, it is a lot of money for our customers and
:19:09. > :19:14.money that they shouldn't have to pay. For the next few days, I am
:19:15. > :19:19.riding along with Piers and Malcolm, power theft investigators. The most
:19:20. > :19:22.bizarre case that I think I have dealt with is probably a nursing
:19:23. > :19:26.home. And when we caught him, it cost him ?25,000. But this
:19:27. > :19:32.morning's call is for much smaller fry. The first three we have got are
:19:33. > :19:35.domestic. A routine meter reading on an east London estate has discovered
:19:36. > :19:41.a single mother of three tampering with here gas meter. There was what
:19:42. > :19:46.appears to be a cooker hose at the time that actually had replaced that
:19:47. > :19:52.gas meter. Even with gas central heating, they only paid ?15 last
:19:53. > :19:59.year. How many people live in the property? My mum, my two sisters and
:20:00. > :20:02.myself. The meter is back but hasn't been installed correctly. Because
:20:03. > :20:06.the mother has children, she is considered vulnerable and cannot be
:20:07. > :20:11.cut off. Potentially, this one will go to the police and we try to trace
:20:12. > :20:14.back who is doing this. We do find trends of where people are going
:20:15. > :20:18.around estates and tampering with the same meters in the same way.
:20:19. > :20:22.These people will charge a range, we have heard, from ?10 up to ?500 a
:20:23. > :20:25.time. So they can do 10`15 a day. They are not putting themselves at
:20:26. > :20:28.risk. If something happened there, it is all the adjoining properties
:20:29. > :20:31.and everyone in there who is going to be affected by a potential
:20:32. > :20:35.explosion. NEWS REPORTER: This was the scene
:20:36. > :20:40.that people on Dundas Road worker to this morning. Whatever the cause,
:20:41. > :20:44.gas explosions can be deadly. REPORTER: a suspected gas explosion
:20:45. > :20:48.inside a terraced house. In Sheffield last year, this entire
:20:49. > :20:51.terraced house was blown apart. Miraculously, no one died but it is
:20:52. > :20:57.a chilling reminder of the dangers of gas. The damage of that explosion
:20:58. > :21:01.was so great that authorities were never able to pinpoint the exact
:21:02. > :21:09.cause. Emergency services were worried about other dangers, so they
:21:10. > :21:12.decided to conduct a Test. The police were on site and the networks
:21:13. > :21:16.were on site. And they asked us whether or not we felt it was right
:21:17. > :21:20.to have a look at some of the other supplies in the street. And, yes,
:21:21. > :21:23.from looking at about 20 houses in a single terraced street, sure
:21:24. > :21:30.enough, we found five gas thefts and two electricity thefts. That's a
:21:31. > :21:33.great example of what the scale of the issue is.
:21:34. > :21:41.Little now shocks Mark. He has seen all sorts of dangerous ways of
:21:42. > :21:44.stealing power. This is one that really impacts on safety. A bicycle
:21:45. > :21:48.inner tube and they have used it to bridge the gas meter, so instead of
:21:49. > :21:49.the gas meter being here, this tube would literally be across here like
:21:50. > :21:56.that. Hello. We have come here to inspect
:21:57. > :22:00.the electricity meter, OK? We've got a bypass on the electric meter. This
:22:01. > :22:08.flat's total bill of just ?5 for last year led them to find this
:22:09. > :22:11.dangerous bypass. Tell me what's the problem is. Malcolm produces
:22:12. > :22:18.evidence for prosecution and the bill for years of stolen
:22:19. > :22:24.electricity. It is actually back`billed since 2008, when you can
:22:25. > :22:28.start it. `` from when the account started. It is going to be a big
:22:29. > :22:32.bill. It will be, yeah. Hard times may drive some, but we are now in a
:22:33. > :22:36.very rich part of Essex. Homes here often sell for over a million, but
:22:37. > :22:40.the team have a tip`off about an eight`bed bit mansion with ?300,000
:22:41. > :22:45.worth of cars on the forecourt. But the house is suspiciously
:22:46. > :22:50.energy`efficient. Can I come in and just have a look at what you got?
:22:51. > :22:56.Thank you. Where is the light switch for this
:22:57. > :23:02.room here? Within minutes of the team's arrival, the power to most of
:23:03. > :23:05.the house mysteriously goes off. My suspicion is that all the back of
:23:06. > :23:13.the house and that garage is on a meter supply that is now switched
:23:14. > :23:19.off. But where to look for the illegal supply? I'm just looking to
:23:20. > :23:22.see if any of it has been taken up. The owners insist the only meters
:23:23. > :23:30.are the ones outside, but an hour and a half into the search, Piers
:23:31. > :23:38.finds another supply. I can see the pipe. Ah. Another electricity meter.
:23:39. > :23:43.Moments later... OK. There we have another gas meter. All the power, be
:23:44. > :23:46.it gas or electricity, used through these two meters, is not being
:23:47. > :23:53.billed, it appears. So they are getting it for free. For now. But
:23:54. > :23:58.very soon, it is a mansion without power. The illegal supply is cut
:23:59. > :24:03.off. It won't be restored until an estimated ?6,000 of stolen energy is
:24:04. > :24:05.paid for. These people can quite obviously afford to pay for all
:24:06. > :24:17.their energy and yet they are not. Theft is being made all the easier
:24:18. > :24:22.by the internet. MAN: "There you go, it is going slow now." Video guides
:24:23. > :24:29.on stealing energy. A new local scam can go global in days.
:24:30. > :24:35.It is a cat and mouse game. Close one scam and another quickly opens.
:24:36. > :24:38.The latest comes from Chinese community newspapers. They openly
:24:39. > :24:46.advertise telephone numbers for someone to come round and meddle
:24:47. > :24:49.with your meter. TRANSLATIONS: Take control of your
:24:50. > :24:55.meters with this super money`saving device. Especially suitable for
:24:56. > :25:00.takeaways, restaurants and houses. That Chinese scam has now spread
:25:01. > :25:06.across Britain. We are from British Gas, we have come to inspect the gas
:25:07. > :25:11.mete, if we can. Piers and Malcolm think they have found it in this
:25:12. > :25:15.fish and chip shop. Just put something on that is using the gas.
:25:16. > :25:18.That is good. It doesn't seem to be moving. We are going to take that
:25:19. > :25:21.meter and leave you off supply, so cutting off the gas. Piers soon
:25:22. > :25:25.unravels the crude scam from China that is being uncovered in
:25:26. > :25:29.restaurants across Britain. OK, remove that and I'm now going to
:25:30. > :25:33.remove the index mechanism. He then exposes the cogs that drive the
:25:34. > :25:40.meter mechanism. It is the moment of truth. I don't know if you can see
:25:41. > :25:46.that. It has got teeth that have been taken off. Cut off half the
:25:47. > :25:50.teeth, and you halve the bill. This one has just a single tooth left. So
:25:51. > :25:53.only a fraction of the gas has been recorded on that index. And you
:25:54. > :25:57.still don't know anything about it? You don't know when that happened or
:25:58. > :26:01.who could've done it? Meanwhile, Malcolm produces an estimated bill.
:26:02. > :26:08.It is ?1,782.10 for the past four months. Can you pay that now?
:26:09. > :26:12.Otherwise I have got to tell the engineers to make sure that supply
:26:13. > :26:18.is kept off and we will walk away with the meter. It sounds tough, but
:26:19. > :26:21.they can only charge for the few months he has been with British Gas.
:26:22. > :26:26.This former Merseyside detective warns that thieves, like good
:26:27. > :26:30.consumers, keep changing supplier. You can just change supplier very
:26:31. > :26:32.easily, as it is now, if you get caught extracting electricity from
:26:33. > :26:41.one company, you can leave and then go to another one. This is a
:26:42. > :26:43.problem. If you say to them, right, there is ?1 million of electricity
:26:44. > :26:46.extracted from the company, their profits and income will be exactly
:26:47. > :26:49.the same, because that ?1 million loss will be spread over all of the
:26:50. > :26:58.honest bill`paying customers, so they have lost nothing. Back at the
:26:59. > :27:01.chip shop, the owner's credit card means this is one bill we won't be
:27:02. > :27:08.picking up. Immunity from prosecution is not included.
:27:09. > :27:13.There is one area of power theft where police, not power companies,
:27:14. > :27:21.take the lead. Step away from the door. Nationwide, police uncover
:27:22. > :27:28.over 20 cannabis farms a day. Most are stealing their electricity.
:27:29. > :27:31.Essex police raid up to six a week. It is thought a third of the
:27:32. > :27:35.electricity stolen in Britain goes on cannabis farms.
:27:36. > :27:38.So they followed the wires all around the house and they think that
:27:39. > :27:43.this electricity is being stolen from the neighbours. You can see
:27:44. > :27:46.there is a power cable, that is power that is coming from next door,
:27:47. > :27:51.so they have taken the power from next door. Police are now under
:27:52. > :27:56.orders to destroy everything that makes growing cannabis possible.
:27:57. > :27:59.Power theft, whether on cannabis farms or in the chip shop, it is
:28:00. > :28:10.booming, and unless detected, we get the bill. A total invoice amount is
:28:11. > :28:15.?7,702 .88. Catching the thieves is costly. Few will ever see prison.
:28:16. > :28:21.Here, cheeky enough to ask for a discount. We don't offer a discount.
:28:22. > :28:26.It seems just too much. OK, do you want to get the electrician in? The
:28:27. > :28:28.lights may go out, but the bill is still on us. Pop the electricity
:28:29. > :28:36.off, OK? Well, that is all for tonight here
:28:37. > :28:38.at Sutton Bank. Make sure you join us next week...
:28:39. > :28:41.When we will be investigating claims of abuse at a youth detention
:28:42. > :28:45.centre. Looking And the effects of so`called
:28:46. > :28:49.legal highs. And finding out what happened to the
:28:50. > :28:50.Bradford car company that was once a world beater.