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| Silicon found in petrol samples | |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Trading standards officers have confirmed silicon has been found in petrol taken from the tank of a car affected by allegedly faulty fuel. | |
| Faulty unleaded petrol has been blamed for causing thousands of cars to break down, mainly in south or east England. | Faulty unleaded petrol has been blamed for causing thousands of cars to break down, mainly in south or east England. |
| Cambridgeshire County Council's trading standards department had the fuel sample tested at a London forensic science laboratory. | Cambridgeshire County Council's trading standards department had the fuel sample tested at a London forensic science laboratory. |
| Tests carried out for Tesco and Morrisons have found no fault so far. | Tests carried out for Tesco and Morrisons have found no fault so far. |
| Many drivers said they had filled up at the two supermarkets before their cars started to show problems such as juddering and misfiring. | Many drivers said they had filled up at the two supermarkets before their cars started to show problems such as juddering and misfiring. |
| A spokesman for Cambridgeshire Trading Standards said detecting silicon in the fuel could indicate the presence of silicone, the chemical compound containing the element. | |
| Silicone is used in industry as an insulator and for lubrication. | |
| The spokesman said the test had yielded only an initial result, not the final conclusion. | |
| "It points us in a direction. The tests found the element silicon, which suggests the presence of silicone." | |
| He said they were also sending off oxygen sensors from faulty cars to a laboratory for analysis to discover what made them stop working. | |
| The petrol has been traced to a storage depot in Essex. The fuel industry is testing its own supplies. | The petrol has been traced to a storage depot in Essex. The fuel industry is testing its own supplies. |
| It is thought silicone may have found its way into a batch of petrol in transit by ship into the UK or in storage containers. | It is thought silicone may have found its way into a batch of petrol in transit by ship into the UK or in storage containers. |
| Automotive expert Professor Malcolm Fox, from the University of Leeds, said low levels of silicone could affect a car's performance. | Automotive expert Professor Malcolm Fox, from the University of Leeds, said low levels of silicone could affect a car's performance. |
| "When it burns, it will form silicon dioxide and will deposit a very thin sheet on the sensor - the sensor is in the exhaust - and that probably gives a false signal to the engine computer." | "When it burns, it will form silicon dioxide and will deposit a very thin sheet on the sensor - the sensor is in the exhaust - and that probably gives a false signal to the engine computer." |