BP pledges to compensate drivers

11.43.15am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 15th Sep 2004

A pledge by UK oil company BP to compensate drivers who fill up with the wrong fuel at their petrol stations has been welcomed by Liz Lynne MEP who has campaigned to curb vehicle misfuelling.

More than 120,000 drivers each year in Britain, make the expensive and sometimes calamitous mistake of filling their petrol or diesel vehicles with the wrong fuel. It's an error, which the AA say can cost anything from £80 to £3,000 to put right.

The number of AA callouts to deal with the problem has risen by almost 10% over the last five years, and the equivalent of 13 tanker loads of fuel is said to be wasted through misfuelling incidents every month.

BP admits that colouring their 'Ultimate Unleaded' and 'Ultimate Diesel' pumps with different shades of blue has caused some confusion. Their Vice president, John Mumford, has pledged to compensate any drivers who misfuelled, and perhaps damaged their vehicle, as a result of the mix-up.

He said: "As a gesture of goodwill BP is prepared to cover any costs for drainage, flushing the engine and any replacement parts plus labour and VAT."

The company says it has decided to change the colour of the 'Ultimate Unleaded' nozzle handle from light blue to green to avoid further misfuelling incidents.

Euro-MP Liz Lynne has congratulated the firm for offering compensation to its customers but argues that a Europe-wide approach is needed to provide a permanent solution.

She said: "Thousands of people across Europe make this mistake every day. We all drive the same cars and use fuel sold by the same oil companies so we need EU coordination to sort this out."

The European Commission has agreed to consider steps to reduce the confusion. The Commission will consult manufacturers of both vehicles and fuel pumps to identify practical solutions to the problem.

ENDS

Notes to editors

Drivers who have misfuelled at a BP station can call the company's customer care team on 0800 402 402 for further details on how to make a claim.