Just after 1am this morning, a Salisbury police patrol stopped a man driving a Ford Explorer at Elizabeth North. The patrol was in the process of defecting the car when it located another set of number plates inside the vehicle.

Police checks on the found plates revealed they had been used in nine petrol drive-offs between June 2014 and April this year, with a value of more than $700 and all at the same service station at Smithfield.

The 33-year-old man from Elizabeth Vale was arrested and charged with nine counts of make off without payment.

Further enquiries revealed the arrested man was disqualified from driving while committing most of the petrol offences. He was further charged with seven counts of driving while disqualified and two counts of driving unlicensed.

He was bailed to appear in the Elizabeth Magistrates Court on 12 November where police will be applying for compensation on behalf of the petrol station.