Police are facing ridicule online as photos circulate of them being rescued, red-faced, after putting the wrong fuel in their cars. Wrong Fuel Rescue opened in Perth a year ago and has so much work it's expanded to Adelaide and then Melbourne, now employing two technicians in each state and operating 24 hours a day. The company rescued 1000 vehicles last year, including a "couple of police vehicles per month", owner Yan Van De Velde said. WFR opened too late to help a Perth police officer who put the wrong fuel into a booze bus in late 2015, resulting in a $25,000 repair bill, but at any rate it's not just cops whose minds wander at the pump. "You would be surprised how many people are a little absent-minded," Mr Van De Velde said. "Some days we could do six or seven (rescues). It's mostly middle-aged men. "I had thought it might be soccer mums with screaming kids in the back distracting them but it's mainly men, of all kinds. "Ninety per cent is diesel vehicles mistakenly using petrol." Mr Van De Velde said there were some mitigating factors. Petrol nozzles were smaller and fit easily in diesel caps and it was harder to make the opposite mistake, though it did still happen. Labels could also be confusing, especially BP's Ultimate unleaded and diesel, or Caltex's Vortex unleaded and diesel. About 30 per cent of motorists had already driven off by the time they rang Wrong Fuel Rescue, with their car starting to judder, jerk and generally behave alarmingly about a kilometre afterwards. WFR technicians arrive within the hour and generally have the car running again in another hour, having drained and flushed the tank, checked the engine and given the customer fuel to drive off with. If they could not fix the problem there was no charge but this was rare. The alternative options for motorists - a tow truck, a mechanic or dealership - could be costly and time-consuming compared to Wrong Fuel Rescue's flat fee of $359 plus GST and fuel at cost price. Mr Van De Velde, formerly an aircraft engineer, started the company after seeing no services in Australia despite them being widespread in the United States and United Kingdom. It took a year to get through the red tape, but he said it was worth it. "Some customers are tradies and need that vehicle on the road, so the pricing is very competitive compared to a mechanic and we're obviously quicker," he said. "There are no towing fees, it's an immediate service. "When the automobile associations estimate repair costs they reckon it's thousands. Dealerships can tell you whatever they want and charge you whatever and you are none the wiser. "And if it's a new vehicle driven with the wrong fuel, that (mistake) can void the warranty and their repair bills to replace the fuel system can cost tens of thousands. "I hate car dealerships, always have – they just whack this, that, and every other cost on. "Our service is transparent, you can see it's happening, we don't tell you it's broken when it's not. We don't disclose personal info to any third parties, so the warranty will not be affected." Despite help being close at hand, Perth cops might want to pay close attention to their fuel-filling habits in future, now the Internet police have noticed their mistakes. Follow WAtoday on Twitter
