Contaminated fuel at a Tesco petrol station in Colchester has once again ruined car engines.

At least five drivers have seen their vehicles break down and face repair bills of hundreds of pounds after filling up with diesel.

It comes just weeks after thousands of cars across the south-east were damaged by tainted petrol sold by retailers including Tesco, after a mix-up at a terminal in Thurrock.

Among those affected by the latest incident is Colchester cabbie Michael Barnett, who is unable to work after his taxi went in for repairs.

It spluttered to a halt two days after he used the garage.

"They are having to remove the fuel tank and that means taking the whole car to pieces," said Mr Barnett, of Halstead Road.

"A new tank costs £1,500 and the repair bill will be £4,000. I can't just get another car to go to work in, as it's a licensed cab, so I am losing money all round."

A trading standards spokesman told the Gazette the diesel was removed after officers were alerted by the public.

A Tesco spokesman said: "We are sorry for any inconvenience caused. We are urgently looking into it to discover how this happened."