A Bulgarian gang were confronted by supermarket staff after being caught trying to steal barrels of cooking oil in broad daylight.

Security staff at Morrisons in Norwich closed delivery yard gates to stop the escape of the brazen thieves who were part of a gang who had travelled to Norfolk from London.

Eastern Daily Press: The Bulgarian gang attempted to steal cooking oil barrels after targeting Morrisons in Norwich The Bulgarian gang attempted to steal cooking oil barrels after targeting Morrisons in Norwich (Image: Newsquest)

It comes after police warned businesses to remain vigilant amid a recent spate of cooking oil thefts with Norfolk pubs, chip shops and even schools being targeted.

A steep rise in prices has fuelled the black market in heating and cooking oil with organised criminal gangs travelling long distances.

Boris Ognyanov, 37, Ian Georgiev, 43, and Nikolay Yordanov, 44, who all hail from the Wood Green area of north London, appeared at Norwich Magistrates Court on Monday.

Speaking through three separate interpreters, despite all speaking Bulgarian, the trio pleaded guilty to the attempted theft on October 25 last year. 

Eastern Daily Press: Thieves are increasing posing as recycling company employees to cash in on a black market in cooking oilsThieves are increasing posing as recycling company employees to cash in on a black market in cooking oils (Image: Newsquest)

Companies are required to arrange recycling of used cooking oils with thieves exploiting this by either pretending to be from an official company or by targeting unsecured premises.

The court was told when confronted the trio had claimed they had been paid £180 each to collect the barrels but were not from the contracted recycling company.

Imposing fines and costs totalling £525 each, magistrates told them: “It is clear you knew what you were doing and had travelled some distance. You weren’t local nor was this an opportunistic theft.”

Eastern Daily Press: Alert staff at Morrisons on Riverside closed delivery yard gates after catching the gang red handedAlert staff at Morrisons on Riverside closed delivery yard gates after catching the gang red handed (Image: Google)

James Burrows, mitigating, said: “These men were paid a modest amount to take this oil. The actual organiser of the enterprise isn’t in court.”

Two men were charged last month after a police stop in the early hours found them with oil allegedly stolen from a Brancaster restaurant.

Pubs in Ashwellthorpe and Wymondham and a Sprowston school have also reported thefts of hundreds of litres of cooking oil in recent weeks.