Police spend thousands repairing cars after filling them with wrong fuel

[Ian_W]

Police spend thousands repairing cars after filling them with wrong fuel

 

Police forces have been criticised for accumulating thousands of pounds worth of repair bills, to be paid with taxpayers’ money, after officers repeatedly filled their vehicles with the wrong fuel.

 

In the last five years police in Yorkshire spent almost £62,000 on repairs after more than 500 cars were incorrectly fuelled.

 

West Yorkshire Police has the worst record, admitting officers made the mistake 394 times, at a cost of £38,958 to correct, even though it spent £2,133 in 2002 on high visibility stickers for its car fuel caps, telling officers the type of fuel required.

 

North Yorkshire Police filled cars with the wrong fuel on average twice a month, with 108 incidents at a cost of £21,600 to its 507-strong fleet.

 

South Yorkshire police made the error on 10 occasions, at a cost of £1,369.55 while Humberside Police only filled the car with the wrong fuel once, costing £51.

 

In each force the individual officer driving the vehicle is responsible for filling up the car.

 

Each mistake cost an average of £120 to fix, a process which involves draining the tank to prevent the incorrect fuel reaching the engine, which can cause irreversible damage.

 

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, condemned the money wasted by the police.

 

He said: “Once or twice could be put down to human error, but to do it over and over is careless, irresponsible, and costing taxpayers a fortune. If officers are unable to remember which fuel to use, a simple note should be put in every police car, and then the money wasted on these mistakes can be spent on front-line policing.”

 

Steve Thompson, head of transport for West Yorkshire police said: “All our new diesel vehicles are now fitted with a fuel cap device which prevents the wrong fuel being put into the vehicles.

 

“The results are very encouraging and since April 2009 we have seen a 30 per cent reduction in the number of wrong fuel fills.” (Daily Telegraph: September 28).

[Big J R]

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