THE public have been urged not to 'speculate' after fuel at two petrol stations in Somerset became 'contaminated', causing damage to vehicles.

Outraged victims of the incidents claimed that petrol and diesel pumps at Taunton's Greenway Motors Texaco and Asda Locking Express in Weston-super-Mare had been mixed up.

After filling up in Taunton, a Grab-a-Cab taxi had to be towed to the garage when its driver noticed a 'hissing' sound coming from the vehicle.

There was also a 'rough starting' on the car. 

Owner of the taxi business, Jared Colclough, went onto Facebook and saw reports of fuel being put into the incorrect tanks at Greenway Motors.

He told the BBC: "I phoned them (the garage) 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."

Sophie Rollason, from Weston, lost out on a day's work due to her car breaking down after filling up at Asda Locking Express.

Representatives for both Valero, on behalf of Texaco, and Wincanton, the company which delivered the fuel to both stations, have revealed the incident is being investigated internally.

A Valero spokesperson said on behalf of Texaco told the County Gazette: “The misfuelling incident at Greenway and Locking service stations is currently under investigation to understand what happened at both sites.

"Until that has concluded, it would be inappropriate to speculate on the cause. Similarly, we would not comment on third-party employees.

“We take such incidents very seriously and we continue to work with the affected service stations to rectify customer issues as quickly as possible.

"This is a priority for us and we have personally contacted many of these customers to help resolve their issues.

"We continue to urge anyone impacted to contact Texaco Customer Services via texaco.co.uk."

A spokesperson for Wincanton also told the County Gazette: “We want to say sorry to every motorist recently affected by a misfuelling incident at Greenway Motors Texaco service station in Taunton and Asda Locking Express in Weston-super-Mare.  

“We are fully investigating the circumstances and would like to reassure people that no other service stations we supply were impacted.

“We are working closely with our partners at these service stations to rectify customer issues swiftly.

“Any motorist with questions should contact the service station where they made their fuel purchase."