'Helpful' garage attendant smashes car into petrol station shop

Published on Thursday 26 February 2009 09:14

SHE was only trying to be helpful.

But a petrol station attendant's good deed for the day ended in disaster when she drove a disabled woman's car straight into the forecourt shop.

A female service attendant at the Shell garage on Livingston's Howden West Road is said to have spotted a disabled woman having difficulty lining her silver Corsa up with a fuel pump yesterday morning, and offered to assist her.

The woman allowed the Shell employee to drive the car into place, but she accidentally drove the vehicle – which was an automatic – through the front door of the garage just after 10am.

A police source said: "The car belonged to the disabled person and the service attendant went to assist. Unfortunately she didn't realise the car was automatic and it went skiting forward."

The service attendant was taken to nearby St John's Hospital as a precaution, but suffered only minor whiplash.

A worker at the Shell garage yesterday confirmed that there had been "an incident", but would provide no further comment.

The fire service removed the Corsa, which sustained slight damage in the incident, from the shop and assisted to make the shop front secure.

A fire service spokeswoman said: "The garage will be closed until further notice for restorative work to be carried out." Police and ambulance staff also attended the scene.

A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police added: "We received a call at 10.20am about a silver Corsa that had crashed into the front of the petrol station service area."

It was the second dramatic incident in the area within the last four months after a huge fire engulfed the forecourt of the Morrisons petrol station in Almondvale Road, forcing customers to flee for their lives.

The blaze, on October 2, was started by an explosion from machinery inside a white Transit van, as contractors carried out work in the middle of the Livingston forecourt.

There were around ten customers, including a young girl, on the forecourt when the explosion took place, but there were no serious injuries.