A motorist had a lucky escape after ploughing through a fuel pump at a filling station, as a fuel tanker was unloading next to it.
The man, a 35-year-old care worker from Romford, was driving a Renault 18 along the A12.
He came off the road into the Rivenhall service station, but his accelerator pedal was jammed open and he careered into a diesel pump at 9.45am on Friday.
PC Roger Manser, of Stanway traffic police, said: "He took it off at the base but the attendant saw it and hit the emergency cut-off button. The services were shut all morning.
"There were no injuries but he was very lucky. A petrol tanker was filling up right beside it. If it had been a petrol pump, not diesel, it could have been very different because petrol is much more flammable."
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