Police have announced that no further action will be taken against two men who were arrested over the theft of 30,000 litres of diesel from an underground fuel pipeline.

Two men from Salisbury were arrested in April after police discovered that thieves had dug down to Esso’s Midline pipeline at East Wellow in Hampshire and placed a tapping device.

Details of another breach of the pipeline at Manton in Wiltshire were also revealed and later police said they had discovered that other breaches of fuel lines had taken place in southern England and they were widening their investigation.

Detectives from Lyndhurst CID at Hampshire Constabulary are leading the investigation and are working with other police forces - West Mercia (which cover Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire), Gloucestershire and Wiltshire - and fuel companies.

The Midline pipeline carries fuel from the Fawley Refinery on the south coast to the Birmingham Fuels Terminal.

Esso said it had enhanced its security and monitoring procedures for its pipelines following the incidents.