Woman warning over Tesco filling station after car damaged

23-year-old Evie Wootton, from Clayton-le-Moors, says she can no longer travel to work, with mechanics advising her not to drive the vehicle to prevent further damage.

She believes the water-contaminated diesel was from the Tesco filling station on Sykes St, Haslingden.

A few days after refuelling, Ms Wootton noticed a dashboard message while driving on the motorway saying, ‘performance restricted water in fuel’, causing her speed to be capped at 50mph and the car to be put in ‘limp mode’.

She then says she took it to a mechanic, who confirmed the four-by-four had water in its fuel system and she’d need to pay for a new filter.

The problem persisted even after changing the part, forcing the 23-year-old to take the car to a Range Rover specialist.

However, the ‘water in fuel’ message still appears on the dashboard and Ms Wootton described using the car as like “driving in neutral.”

She said: “My car is broken and I’ve no idea what to do, I don’t know where to go from here because my garage doesn’t know how to fix it.

“They showed me the fuel filter and it was full of water.

“It’s coming out of my pocket, but I haven’t got a car to get to work, and I look after kids in care so they’re missing out because of this.”

Ms Wootton is warning other motorists against using the fuel station.

Ms Wootton with her car before the incident (Image: Evie Wootton)

She said: “I want other people to come forward if it’s happened to them, I’ve seen other cases on Facebook.

“I can literally show my bank statements, I don’t get fuel from anywhere else so it must have been the fuel from there.”

In February 2024, Tesco refused compensation to motorists who said their cars had been damaged from diesel at the supermarket’s filling station in Applemore, Hampshire – despite the company apologising for a leaky tank causing the issue.

It was reported in 2021 that Tesco did pay compensation to 15 Surrey motorists whose vehicles were damaged because of a similar issue with water.

Another incident occurred in 2018, when water was accidentally loaded into a fuel tank at a Tesco Express in Bristol.

Ms Wootton has arranged to have her car plugged in at one of Land Rover’s garages – where their technology should be able to determine how her car can be fixed – but the waiting list is two months long.

Tesco has been approached for comment.