Somerset: Anger as cars break down after fuel pumps 'mix-up'

"[It] really has made me angry. I thought I was going mad," said Sophie Rollason

Drivers say their cars have broken down after diesel and petrol were put into opposite pumps at two fuel stations.

Customers in Somerset using the Greenway Motors Texaco station in Taunton and Asda Locking Express in Weston-super-Mare have been affected.

Sophie Rollason, from Weston, said she was "really angry" after the "mix-up" resulted in her losing a day's work.

Asda apologised and said it was investigating a "possible contamination" at the Locking Express.

A spokesperson for Texaco 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's husband's work van has also been affected and she says he is facing missing work for the rest of the week.

She has explained he is a sole trader and the family's main earner.

"He broke down outside our house," she said, adding: "I'm worried about the damage to my car - that has still not been totally calculated."

One of Jared Colclough's taxis had to be towed to a garage, claiming the wrong fuel was put in

Mrs Rollason called into the Asda Locking Express station on Tuesday morning after dropping her children off at school and on her way to work.

"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," she said.

"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."

She has explained she has three children and they rely on their car "heavily" to get about.

Asda apologised and said it was investigating a "possible contamination"

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."

Jared Colclough said Greenway Motors told him "they'd had a lot of customers phone up where they've had cars broken down"

Jared Colclough, who owns taxi company Grab-a-Cab Taunton, said one of his drivers was heading on a school-run and told him there was "a rough starting" on the car "and we heard a bit of a noise like a hissing sound".

He noticed people had posted on Facebook suggesting fuel had been put into the incorrect tanks at Greenway Motors in Taunton.

"I phoned them to confirm if that had affected their diesel tanks and they said yes it had," he said.

"So, we put two and two together and realised my diesel car had petrol put in it."

Greenway Motors Texaco garage in Taunton offered to fix Jared Colclough's car

He continued: "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 explained the staff were "very apologetic" and despite having "a lot calls and vehicles to deal with" they were going to do everything they could.

Greenway Motors offered to fix the car for him.

"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."