After it was discovered that a petrol station was selling "contaminated" fuel, some drivers were left with damaged cars.

After 'dozens' of local drivers experienced their cars breaking down after filling up, drivers at the London Road BP garage in Rayleigh, Essex, reported problems with the petrol.

The BP garage was forced to close on Tuesday and reopen on Wednesday with the pump out of commission after the problem was initially discovered at the beginning of the week.

After a "issue" was discovered, BP, the owner of the affected garage, stated that an investigation was in progress.

Fuel Out's owner, Lee Pretlove, told the Daily Gazette that the company has been called out to 30 occurrences in response to the problem with the petrol station.

According to him, drivers who purchased fuel from the garage and then broke down or couldn't start their cars were the ones that called in.

Additionally, Pretlove stated that "this does not happen frequently" and that the tainted fuel issue had led to their busiest time in years.

He asserted that the majority of the vehicles are breaking down due to what he believes to be water-contaminated petrol.

The specialist went on to say: "We never see this many at all. The technicians give us jobs, and we've received a tonne of calls. We've been overloaded."

"It is reversible and is a case of draining them out, a lot of these cars will need new spark plugs as this is damaging certain plugs and fuel filters."

He noted that some drivers were taking their vehicles to the garage and being slapped with "massive bills" because they were unaware of what happened to their cars.

Pretlove speculated that "as many as 100 people" could have been impacted by the contaminated fuel issue since other recovery services, like the AA and RAC, had also been called.

While it is not the same as dealing with contaminated fuel, the RAC estimates that around 150,000 Britons put the wrong fuel in their car every single year.

The general advice for motorists is to switch their engine off, pull over the a safe spot and call their breakdown cover or fuel specialists to drain the flush the fuel system.

A BP spokesman said: "We have identified an issue at the site with a potentially contaminated tank, which is currently under investigation.

"The affected tank in question has been isolated and the site is now open and operational.

"We are taking steps to assess the potential impact and determine the number of people who may be affected.