Why would anyone break into a property to steal their gas meter?

I only ask because of an odd thing that happened on Saturday…

Turned up to a restaurant we’d booked to find it shut. Guy came to the door to tell me they’d been broken into overnight and had their gas meter and all their spirits nicked.

Is there something of particular value in a gas meter?

Is there something of particular value in a gas meter?

I can’t see it, v odd.

That’s what I thought.

Maybe they want to get out of paying a particularly hefty gas bill?!!

Answer:

Step 1. Take out your own meter.
Step 2. Install stolen meter.
Step 3. Use gas.
Step 4. Reinstall own meter.
Step 5. Own meter doesn’t show gas used.
Step 6. Meter reading taken.

Used to be called weekend meters. Basically (and it only works if the meter is fitted internally & not a smart meter) but you have two meters, the official one that you make sure is in place for the meter reader when they call and the other one that he/she never see’s. Called w/e meters because if you didn’t want to attract attention you only had it in place over the w/e so you recorded a reasonable amount of gas consumption and meter readers didn’t normally call at the w/e…

Theres some crafty buggers in this world!

I have worked on Theft of Gas teams…

Always a seller down the pub. One of our plumbers was working on a small development, had 7 all disappear in one night. It literally is 2 sets of grips and 2 mins work and away you go.

Answer:

Step 1. Take out your own meter.
Step 2. Install stolen meter.
Step 3. Use gas.
Step 4. Reinstall own meter.
Step 5. Own meter doesn’t show gas used.
Step 6. Meter reading taken.

Am I missing something?

Why not replace Step 2 with a length of flexible gas pipe with fittings?

what gobuchul said ^

I can only assume there’s a regulator in the meter box?

Can plebs buy the correct pipe and fittings?

Meter governors, they reduce the pressure prior to the meter, they pinch the lot.

I had one taken, not stolen though…

While working on a empty rented property, I had the meter out while working on the gas in the house. I left it in the entrance hall. I came out to re-connect and it had gone. Long storey very short, it turned out that the previous tenant owed the gas supplier a shed load of money and just be chance they had come to disconnect and reclaim the meter the same day I was working on it! The supplier person just took it with out telling any one. It took the landlord ages to find out what had actually happened.