A man has been found not guilty of contaminating fuel which caused dozens of breakdowns for customers of a Tesco service station in Dorset.

Prosecutors at Basildon Crown Court claimed a tanker driver, Jeffrey Wheeler, removed diesel from a tanker and replaced it with non-road fuel diesel in Essex at around 3am on September 18.

The defence claimed the half-hour window during which the fuel was allegedly contaminated was not long enough for the contaminant to be pumped in.

Customers at Tesco in Branksome, Poole, complained of engine problems after filling up there in September 2014.

The service station was subsequently shut for two months of investigations during which the forecourt was dug up.

Wheeler, 57, of Atherstone Road, Canvey Island, Essex, was cleared of one count of theft and one of fraud.

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