AN UNUSUAL queue of traffic outside a tiny petrol station caused gendarmes to do a double-take... and discover that the garage was selling petrol at one centime a litre and dozens of drivers were waiting to take advantage.

A bug in the system at the Dyneff automatic site on the Carcassonne-Narbonne road at Capendu, Aude, meant drivers were able to get their fill and save more than €1.30 per litre.

The gendarmes stepped in and contacted the local Dyneff operator about the problem but not before “several cubic metres of petrol” had been sold at a massive loss [one cubic metre equals 1,000 litres].

Newspaper L’Independant said that the driver who first discovered the problem had returned to fill his second car and also several fuel cans.

He had then told several friends... who told others and eventually it ended up on Facebook.

Operator Dyneff, which has 100 petrol stations across Languedoc-Roussillon, would not reveal exactly how much had been taken but admitted that they were “happier” that it was the petrol pump and not the diesel... as two in three cars runs on diesel and virtually every commercial van and lorry.

Photo: Vojtech Vlk - Fotolia.com