Sainsburys suspends sale of unleaded petrol at Co Down filling station amid contamination fears

Sainsburys suspends sale of unleaded petrol at Co Down filling station amid contamination fears

A filling station at Sainsbury’s in Bangor was closed temporarily amid claims of unleaded petrol contamination.

The supermarket’s filling station in the Co Down town was closed temporarily on Friday, October 15, and reopened the following afternoon.

Despite the reopening, unleaded petrol remained unavailable at the site, and engineers inspected the closed pumps.

Local residents raised concerns about contamination, claiming to have had issues with their cars after filling up on petrol at the station.

On BBC Radio Ulster’s Nolan Show on Monday, October 18, a caller claimed that she had contacted a company which specialises in draining fuel from cars, who said they had responded to 20 calls about similar issues.

One customer told Belfast Live: “Numerous motorists are having issues, me amongst them. I’ve contacted a few local garages and all have people in with fuel issues after filling at Sainsburys. One customer was even recovered from the forecourt.”

The customer said they brought their car to a mechanic to be drained on Monday October 18.

“As soon as you started it up you could tell something wasn’t right with the engine – it was struggling. It was just chugging and jumping along. There was white smoke coming out of it and then it stalled,” they said.

“There was no power – it just felt like everything was wrong with it.

“I only live about a mile away, so I filled it up and drove home. Then the next morning when I started it, that’s when it all went wrong.”

A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s said: “Our Bangor petrol filling station was temporarily closed on Friday and reopened on Saturday afternoon.

“We have received a small number of complaints from customers who used the unleaded pump at our Bangor petrol filling station towards the end of last week.

“Unleaded petrol is unavailable while we investigate and we continue to offer diesel and super unleaded. We will keep our customers updated and we’re sorry for the inconvenience this may cause.”