Police are hunting for three hooded men who forced their way through the front door of a filling station in Oban and ran off with a hoard of cigarettes in the early hours of yesterday.
The break-in at Birchwood Service Station on Soroba Road almost brought the town to a halt yesterday morning – as the town’s Tesco Filling Station is currently closed for refurbishment.
Birchwood was closed for several hours as crime scene officers searched for clues.
Large queues were soon forming at Oban Filling Station, the town’s only other garage also on Soroba Road.
That filling station then ran out of diesel for three quarters of an hour and Birchwood opened one of its pumps at 11am to cope with demand.
Police were alerted to the Birchwood break-in at 6am when staff arrived for work. However it is believed the incident took place at aboutff 1am.
Three men, who all had their hoods up, forced their way in through the front door before making off with a large quantity of cigarettes.
Donald Murdo Matheson, supervisor at Birchwood, said: “All we know is that there was a break-in some time during the night. There is CCTV which police are going through.
“Whoever it was knew what they were after.”
He added: “The whole of Oban ran out of diesel. The Tesco garage is closed, they are doing refurbishments. The other garage down the road ran out and there was no diesel in Oban. We managed to get one of our pumps open.”
Neil Matheson, owner of Birchwood, added: “With all these things, it’s such a massive inconvenience for everybody. We will get over it and move on but in the meantime it is difficult for the staff and difficult for everyone to get on top off.”
The Tesco Filling Station in Oban closed for refurbishment on Sunday night and is due to re-open at 6am on Saturday.
Detective Constable Alasdair Dewar said: “Police have been checking CCTV as well as speaking to people in the local area to try and trace those responsible.
“We want to know if anyone has any information that can help us. Were you woken by anything through the night? Did you see anything that may help us with our inquiry?”
Anyone with information should contact Oban Police Office on 101.
