Drivers were left stranded at a Highland filling station after a mystery fuel problem caused their cars to conk out.
Pick-up trucks rescued at least four motorists from the Torq garage in Aviemore after they tanked-up with diesel – and then ground to a halt.
As their vehicles were being removed, several frustrated travellers posted online warnings to other drivers not to buy derv from the Grampian Road outlet.
One claimed “the wrong fuel” had been delivered through a diesel pump.
“There is lots of us broken down around Aviemore. Waiting on tow trucks,” it said.
South African couple Willie and Engela van Zyl, who are on a two-month UK tour, were among the victims.
They had driven from their Inverness hotel to Aviemore hoping to see snow to add a festive glow to their first experience of Scotland, but ended up returning to the city by taxi after a long wait in the cold.
Mrs van Zyl, 61, said: “Two Land Rovers, a BMW X5 and our car had all filled up with diesel from the same pump.”
As a filling station attendant provided free hot beverages to the couple, vehicles were collected by breakdown trucks.
They were eventually provided with a taxi organised by their car hire firm.
Mr van Zyl, 61, said: “This is frustrating, to say the least. We’ve been here for the last two-and-a-half hours.
“I had about a quarter tank left and had filled up. I managed to drive just five or 10 yards and it just stopped.
“They reckon it’s contamination, but that’s just speculation. The garage have said they’d pay all the costs.”
The filling station was taken over by independent petrol retailer MRH Retail in 2011 and sells fuel under the Torq banner.
A company spokesman said: “We are deeply sorry. We’ll do whatever we can do to make sure that people get compensation.
“It’s an engineering issue relating to one of the four diesel tanks on the site.
“It was the engineering work that caused the problem. It’s not an issue with the quality of the fuel, it’s a specific issue with that tank.
“There was something wrong with the diesel, but we haven’t had the analysis back yet to say what the problem is. We will get an engineering team in next week to ensure everything is alright.”
The incident happened on Christmas Eve.