POLICE in the Scottish Borders have alerted the public to an emerging crime trend.

Criminals are stealing used and new cooking oil from catering premises and selling it to unsuspecting processing plants for conversion to biodiesel.

Alternatively, they are processing it through illegal businesses.

In response to this, officers are advising people to store oil securely, check the authorisation of anyone offering oil waste removal, be vigilant and report anything suspicious.

Police say to always dial 999 in an emergency or contact them by phone on 101 for non-emergencies

Members of the public can also contact police online for issues of a non-serious nature.

That can be done via Police Scotland’s ‘contact us form’ https://www.scotland.police.uk/contact-us