A Longridge garage owner who noticed fuel going missing from a tank checked CCTV footage and saw a neighbour carrying two 25-litre cans in the early hours.
Blackburn magistrates heard that a week later a police officer caught Christopher Eddlestone leaving his house with the same containers at 5.30am.
But Roger Pickles, defending, said the fuel turned out to be heating oil, which wrecked the engine.
Eddlestone, 50, of Neville Street, Longridge, pleaded guilty to two charges of theft and one of going equipped for theft. He was given a conditional discharge for two years and ordered to pay £77 compensation and £70 costs.
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