Officers fill cars with wrong fuel

POLICE: Officers mistakenly filled patrol cars with the wrong type of fuel nearly 300 times in 2017 – at a cost of more than £50,000 in repairs. The cash spent on the mishaps has been described as “staggering”.

POLICE OFFICERS mistakenly filled patrol cars with the wrong type of fuel nearly 300 times in 2017 – at a cost of more than £50,000 in repairs.

The cash spent on the mishaps, released after a Freedom of Information investigation, have been described as “staggering”.

Of the UK’s 45 police forces, 40 responded and 33 admitted paying out for repairs to a police vehicle after a misfuelling incident last year – at an average cost of £178 a time.

Some 299 incidents of misfuelling were recorded, costing a total of £53,337.

West Midlands Police recorded the most incidents – 66, at a cost of £3,737, according to the figures.

The Met Police had 49 incidents, costing £17,589.57 in total to repair, while Police Scotland had 16, costing £2,004.92.

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance think-tank, said: “It’s staggering that such a simple mistake is being made almost daily.

“This careless attitude shows a lack of respect for those same taxpayers who both pay their wages and are forced to pay for the repairs. Millions of people manage this task with their own cars by taking a modicum of care – police officers should extend the same courtesy to their vehicles.”

West Midlands Police fleet manager Gary Mallett said mistakes increased after 2013 when the force moved away from internal fuel sites and fuel keys to external fuel stations in a costcutting exercise.

Meanwhile, West Yorkshire Police spent £943 on four misfuelling errors. South Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Police both recorded just one incident, costing £100 and £130 respectively.

A spokesman for the Met Police said that since 2008 its vehicles had been refuelled 1.5 million times and mistakes were “a tiny proportion of total refuelling”.

Motoring organisations say the problem will be eradicated when forces adopt more electric cars.

City of London, Durham, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Dyfed-Powys did not misfuel any cars.