A MUM narrowly escaped disaster when her car stalled on the A130 at Rawreth because the fuel from the petrol station had been contaminated with water.

Vicky Purkis had just dropped her 13-year-old daughter Emily at school when she stopped to put £10 of petrol into her Renault Laguna at the Grange Petrol Station in London Road, Rayleigh.

But as she travelled with her other children, Alex eight, Sophie five and two-year-old Meah, the car suddenly spluttered to a halt.

Mrs Purkis, 36, said: “I was taking two of my children to school when the car started to die on me. Luckily I was near a layby and managed to crawl to a halt there.

“A couple of seconds later I would have been driving in the fast lane and I dread to think what might have happened.

“I called the RAC and the patrolman who came said there had been lots of other calls about the same thing. He tested the contents of my petrol tank and said it was just water. Basically I had filled up with £10 of water. I had to call my husband to come and get the children. It was awful and freezing cold.”

The repair bill came to £160 to drain and clean the fuel tank.

Mrs Purkis, of Trenders Avenue, Rayleigh, added: “The garage says it will refund the cost, but there has been no mention of compensation or even an apology for all the inconvenience. I think it’s disgraceful.”

It has emerged at least seven other motorists have suffered the same problem.

Vicki Burn, spokeswoman for the RAC, said: “There were at least eight incidents, not all dealt with by us, but local contractors and other breakdown organisations.

“The garage should have double-checked the tank. I believe the water table is high at the moment so that might be a contributary factor.”

Despite repeated attempts to let the garage give its explanation, no one was available to comment.