Dodgy diesel

Howard Westphal and contaminated Diesel sold at Scouthead Filling Station whick wrecked his Range Rover Fuel System.

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MYSTERY surrounds how Scouthead Filling Station’s diesel supply became contaminated — causing at least £16,000 worth of damage to the cars of furious customers.

There is believed to be at least three motorists whose cars have been left “undriveable” after being filled with a substance which “looks nothing like diesel” from the petrol station’s diesel pump on March 4.

A mechanic has carried out a video inspection of one of the cars affected where he can be seen taking a sample of the diesel used, prompting him to say, “as you can see it doesn’t look like diesel at all.”

Owner’s of the filling station say they are baffled as to how the fuel became contaminated and took the pump out of service when they found out it was causing cars to breakdown.

One outraged customer, Howard Westphal, had his Land Rover Discovery filled with what he thought was diesel at 8.35am.

The engineer, from Uppermill, only made it one-and-a-half miles down Huddersfield Road before his vehicle, which he has only had for 18 months, completely packed in.

He called for roadside assistance and his vehicle was taken to a garage for repair, where it remains.

He has since been informed the damage caused will cost more than £7,000 to repair after the “fuel” put into it corrupted a number of the vehicle’s parts.

The technician who recovered the vehicle said it appeared “dodgy fuel” had been pumped into it that perhaps had been mixed with something.

Mr Westphal said: “I got down to Asda near the bottom of Huddersfield Road and it just cut out on me.

“The roadside recovery technician thought I had put petrol in by accident at first but I knew I hadn’t because at Scouthead Filling Station the staff pump your car for you and I saw them using the diesel pump.

“When he saw the fuel he said I don’t know what that is but it’s not diesel . . . and it’s not petrol.”

A sample of the fuel put into Mr Westphal’s vehicle at Scouthead Filling Station was taken by Stratstone Land Rover service technician Carl Bateman.

On a video of his inspection of the car, Mr Bateman says: “This is a fuel sample taken from the fuel filter and as you can see it does not look like diesel at all. We are going to need to carry out a full petrol and diesel treatment to the vehicle.”

The sample of the fuel shows water floating on the surface of the fuel but in diesel water is supposed to sink to the bottom.

Another furious customer of the filling station on March 4, Danny Robinson, says the engine of his and his wife’s Audi has been written off. It will cost £4,000 to put right.

Mr Robinson, an award-winning barber, said: “We have had to go through our own insurance with bills racking up to thousands upon thousands. All for just a simple case of filing your car up.”

A Range Rover also reportedly suffered £5,000 worth of damage at the hands of the filling station.

A spokesman for Scouthead Filling Station said: “It came to our knowledge by telephone calls from a customer that their car stopped after being filled with diesel from our pump.

“Immediately the diesel pump was closed and the manager was informed about the incident.”

The situation has sparked outrage on social media with thousands talking about the filling station, something the business says has put a lot of pressure on them.

Filling station bosses said they cannot afford to replace the cars but their insurance company is dealing with claims launched by two of the customers affected.

Oldham Council’s Trading Standards team have also received complaints from customers of Scouthead Filling Station prompting an investigation.

They carried out a site visit yesterday, with findings yet to be confirmed.