Drivers stranded in Kingswinford petrol blunder

Drivers were left stranded at a Black Country filling station when petrol was pumped into a diesel supply tank by mistake.

Hundreds of pounds worth of the wrong fuel was pumped into cars and vans visiting the petrol station, at the Morrisons supermarket in Stallings Lane, Kingswinford. A dozen drivers, who had filled up with fuel, broke down at the scene and several AA recovery trucks were called out to the station during rush hour to rescue the stranded drivers.

The problems began at 4.30pm on Tuesday and continued for around an hour before the station shut the tanks down.

Morrisons spokesman Paul Fitzjohn said 12 people had filled up from two tanks dispensing the wrong fuel.

One customer, Stewart Jones, filled up with £83 of what he thought was diesel.

He said he only realised something was wrong when he went to pay.

"They said I had put petrol in, but I said I knew for a fact I had put diesel in," he said.

"Within a few minutes there were about half a dozen people who had done exactly the same thing."

Mr Fitzpatrick said 11 of the 12 customers who had been affected had complained or contacted their insurance company to make a claim.

"They have been spoken to by the general store manager about the incident," he said.

"A small number of customers were affected by an issue involving two pumps dispensing the incorrect fuel."

He blamed the mistake on an error by contractors.

"As soon as we were made aware of the issue the tanks were shut down and the problem has been investigated and was fully rectified," he added.

He urged anyone affected by the mistake to call the customer services department on 0845 611 6111.

It follows a similar incident in Tavistock, Devon in 2008.

Morrisons had to fork out hundreds of pounds in claims after drivers filled up from an unleaded petrol pump mistakenly containing diesel.