Petrol price error fuels stampede

HUNDREDS of motorists flocked to a small petrol station in Picardy after it accidentally knocked a third off the price of a litre of fuel.

The self-service filling station in Nogent-sur-Oise, near the A1 motorway, sold 4,500 litres of petrol at €0.67 instead of €0.99 on Monday night – at a total loss of €1,500.

News of the discount spread fast and queues formed on the forecourt. Some customers even brought extra containers to make the most of the offer.

The discount came to an abrupt end the following morning when the manager arrived at work to find the pumps were almost dry.

A member of staff responsible for updating the automatic payment system on the forecourt had typed the wrong numbers into the computer.