Partner Article

Cop car fuel confusion cost £1million

Police who can’t tell their petrol from their diesel have wasted £1 million in the last three years by using the wrong pump in petrol stations.

For the past three years, the repair bill has averaged £6,500 a week with four cars a day requiring engines to be flushed of the wrong fuel, reports the Daily Mirror.

In addition the costs of engine repairs, labour and having the right juice put back in have all resulted in a seven-figure bill. The worst offender was London’s Met, who wasted £194,212 in three years.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers’ Allowance said: “It is shocking that so many police cars are being wrecked by stupid errors. Every car damaged is thousands of pounds diverted away from the fight against crime. One would hope our police were more on the ball.”

Liberal Democrat MP Chris Huhne suggested: “Surely the solution is big, colour-coded stickers on the tank caps so officers don’t mess up.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .