COMPLAINTS have been made to a supermarket after drivers said they believed they had been sold contaminated diesel.

Two customers who used the Warndon Tesco branch petrol station said they had had problems after filling up at the Mill Wood Drive store.

Tesco has agreed to carry out additional testing on the fuel but says it does not believe the diesel is of a poor standard.

However, Laura Yeomans said: “I filled my car up on November 28 with diesel and got the fuel filter warning light.

“I took my car into Kia who looked and found my tank was 50 per cent water.

“It has taken my car off the road and got me a massive bill to pay.

“I know of a few others who have had the same thing happen to them and Tesco is claiming it’s not their responsibility.”

Both customers who complained say they received an email from Tesco's customer relations denying responsibility for the car problems.

The email reads: “I can confirm that there have been no reports of fuel contamination from this site, which, as I am sure you will appreciate, sells thousands of litres of fuel every day. If there had been even the slightest problem, there would have been many complaints.

“There are strict controls in place to prevent the wrong fuel, or indeed any foreign matter, being delivered into the storage tanks. The pumps are fitted with filters, which would remove anything in the fuel that should not be there.

“In addition, the tanks are fitted with water detection gauges, which sound an immediate alarm if there is any water collection present. These preventative measures are checked regularly and I am confident that the contamination did not come from this fuel station.

“In some cars, it is possible for foreign matter to build up in a fuel tank over a period of time, leading to the problems you have described.

“Please be assured that if any fault had been found with the fuel from this site, I would have been happy to reimburse you accordingly.

“As this has not been the case I cannot do this.”

A spokesman for Tesco told the Worcester News: “We have no reason to believe the fuel at our Worcester Warndon Superstore petrol filling station is of a poor standard.

“Following the concerns raised by two customers we are carrying out additional testing and will update our customers should we find anything amiss.

“In November we received two separate customer complaints about fuel which have each been fully investigated and in each case we have found no evidence fuel from our Worcester Warndon Superstore would have caused damage to either car.

“If fuel was not of an appropriate standard, it would set off a monitoring alarm in our station and as a precaution we are arranging for the fuel at the store to be tested.”

A similar problem was reported at a branch of Tesco in Bristol earlier this year.

After an investigation, water was found to have got into the diesel in one of the storage tanks at the petrol station.