TRADING Standards have launched an investigation after a woman claimed her fuel tank was full of water after filling up from a petrol station's pump.

Amanda Legg made the complaint after spending £22 on what she thought was petrol from Save Service Station, in Bolton Street, Chorley, last Friday.

Trading Standards officers visited the site on Tuesday and found water in the tanks, but were scheduled to carry out a full test on Thursday (December 6).

A spokesman for the garage said they had not had any problems with their petrol before, but the allegations would be fully investigated.

Amanda, from Preston, claims that she drove three quarters of a mile to Union Street, Chorley, before the car stalled and broke down.

Her father, Bob, a vehicle technician at the Central Motorist Centre, said: "The next day we checked the car and there was a brown liquid leaking from the fuel line.

"I could tell it was water because we put the liquid in a milk bottle and the petrol floated on the top with the water on the bottom. Being someone involved in the motor trade, I know that water in the petrol tank can be very dangerous."

A spokesman from the Preston Trading Standards office said: "We are looking into it from when the complaint was made on Friday, and we will be carrying out a tank test on Thursday.

"We can see that there is some water in the tanks and there is obviously some validity in the complaint.

"Where petrol is concerned we would take a complaint very seriously and follow it up speedily."

A spokesman for the Save Service Station Group said: "We are aware of the complaint and it will be dealt with but there has never been anything wrong with our petrol and the customer should wait for the response of our directors."

Save Service Station Ltd have been in the hands of administrators, Ernst and Young for nine and a half months.

A spokesman for Ernst and Young confirmed that the company's assets are to be sold to another company in January.