Drivers fume as their cars break down after diesel and petrol put in wrong pumps at fuel stations
DRIVERS were left fuming as their cars broke down after diesel and petrol had been put in the wrong pumps at two fuel stations.
Customers at the Greenway Motors Texaco station in Taunton, Somerset, and Asda Locking Express in Weston-super-Mare have been affected.
Due to the “mix up” Sophie Rollason, from Weston, was left “really angry” as it meant she lost a day’s work.
Asda has issued an apology and said it was investigating a “possible contamination” at Locking Express.
A Texaco spokesperson said any customers who have “suffered a problem after filling their vehicle at Greenway Road service station” should contact Texaco Customer Care via its website.
Mrs Rollason also said her husband’s van had been affected and she claimed he is facing missing work for the rest of the week.
She said he works as a sole trader and is the family’s main bread winner.
Mrs Rollason said: “He broke down outside our house.
“I’m worried about the damage to my car – that has still not been totally calculated.”
She had visited the Asda Locking Express station on Tuesday morning having been on the school run with her children and was on her way to work.
Mrs Rollason said: “Everything was fine until I got to Haywood village down the road and the car started to lose speed, and then wouldn’t start at all.
“When the recovery man turned up to help find out the problem he smelt the fuel cap and told me he could smell diesel, not petrol in my car before the garage confirmed it to me.”
Being a mum-of-three, she said they rely on their car “heavily” to get around.
An Asda spokesman said: “We are currently conducting an investigation into a possible contamination at our Locking Express petrol station.
“Fuel is currently unavailable whilst the investigation takes place and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
The owner of Taunton-based taxi company Grab-a-Cab, Jared Colclough, said one of his drivers had run into problems while on a school-run, saying there was “a rough starting” on the car “and we heard a bit of a noise like a hissing sound”.
He saw on Facebook that people had posted messages suggesting fuel had been put into the incorrect tanks at Greenway Motors in Taunton, the BBC reports.
Mr Colclough said: “I phoned them to confirm if that had affected their diesel tanks and they said yes it had.
“So, we put two and two together and realised my diesel car had petrol put in it.”
Five basic steps to avoid ruining your engine
THE most feared mistake among motorists is filling the car with the wrong fuel.
But whether that’s diesel or petrol there is an easy five-step tip to avoid a hefty bill.
- Make sure you don’t turn your engine over
- Leave the car setting
- Get a tow truck
- Tow the car to your local shop
- Get fuel flushed out of the vehicle
He added: “As a taxi company, we do school runs and we are contractually obliged and I was concerned this car could break down at any moment.
“But also it’s the worry of how much damage this has done.”
Mr Colclough said the staff were “very apologetic” and while they had a lot of calls and vehicles to deal with they added they were going to do everything they could.
Greenway Motors has offered to fix the car for him.
He said: “The garage did say we could go to another garage and keep the bills, but we are a small taxi company, we don’t have that disposable income to fork out hundreds on.”