Melanie Morgan, 31, snapped pictures of herself struggling to grasp petrol pump

She is now planning to buy an electric car to avoid filling up at the pump again

Melanie finds filling up the smaller tank on her Smart car once a week easier

A mother is accusing petrol stations of sexism because their huge 'male-designed' pump handles hurt her 'small hands' - and now has to get her partner to fill up their van.

Melanie Morgan snapped pictures of herself struggling to grasp a petrol pump to 'prove her point' to partner Jared Griffiths that filling up their Ford Tourneo Independence was a strain on her small hands.

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The 31-year-old private tutor from south west London accused garages of 'everyday sexism' on social media when sharing the struggle she experiences when filling up her van as she believes they're designed specifically with men in mind.

Melanie Morgan, a 31-year-old private tutor from south west London accused garages of 'everyday sexism' on social media

It has become such an issue for mother-of-two Melanie, that she's planning to buy an electric car in the near future to avoid filling up at the pump again.

Melanie said: 'I have fairly small hands. I'm short, I'm 5ft 3, so I'm fairly small generally but I imagine there aren't many men who have the same size hands as me.

'When I was younger I remember thinking 'ooh this is difficult' but then it's also something you're new to doing.

'But as an adult now who does it regularly it suddenly occurred to me one day that I don't think most people find filling up the car painful, most people don't have to think 'this doesn't work'.

Here she is pictured using a petrol pump to prove how large they are and how they hurt her small hands

'I'd assume there's some kind of reason that it needs to be the broadness it is around that point and you have to pull it in tight, of course, but I think it's a classic overlooked issue.

'No-one's going to complain about it and those who tend to design things like that I assume are typically male engineers.

'My partner fills the van up now, and started doing it in October, so I don't have to deal with it.'

Melanie finds filling up the smaller tank on her Smart car once a week easier than trying to fill the larger diesel vehicle, which typically needs refuelling less often.

Melaine said: 'We probably fill the diesel one once every three weeks, except I never do now, I get my partner to fill it up.

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'It's enough of a problem that I just don't want to deal with it.

'I've never timed filling up the van but I know when I'm filling it up I'm waiting for it to end.'

Melanie revealed her small-handed problem to 35-year-old teacher partner Jared, who initially laughed it off.

Melanie said: 'When I was younger I thought I had small hands, but as an adult my hands are no bigger.

'I'd come back to the van having got out and filled up and when I got back in I was flexing my hand, like when you've been writing a lot, and I was like 'ooh actually that quite hurts'.

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'I said this to my partner and he kind of laughed it off and I said 'no really it hurts, you have to grip it really hard when you've got smaller hands'.

'It's ridiculous that that's something I have to think about, I took the pictures to prove to my partner that I had a point.

Melanie said she's unsure whether discomfort while filling up petrol tanks is a widespread issue, but claims she's looking to buy an electric vehicle to avoid the problem in the future

'It's annoying it doesn't prove exactly what I wanted it to - they're not perfectly lit and they don't quite show it - but it got the sense to him that actually I'm having to grip that really tight just to get the handle.

'When I said this he was like 'oh gosh you're not joking, this is actually a problem'.

Melanie said she's unsure whether discomfort while filling up petrol tanks is a widespread issue, but claims she's looking to buy an electric vehicle to avoid the problem in the future.

Melanie said: 'For me it's not a huge issue, it's not something I can't do, but I should imagine for some people it is something they cannot do - if you are weaker or smaller than me.

'No-one particularly likes going to fill the car up, I think that's the future of electric vehicles.

'In the next five/ten years I'm considering getting an electric car - once I get one it won't be a problem at all.

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'We live in London, so the more we can do to reduce emissions the better.'