A VIDEO showing a truck driver being wrongly charged for petrol has gone viral.

Jon Evans, 34, from Basildon, filmed the footage at the Shell garage, off the A127, in Wickford.

It shows the sale price and litre display going up, despite no fuel coming out of the pump.

Mr Evans first discovered the fault earlier this month, but returned to the petrol station at about 11.30am on Sunday to capture evidence.

His video, which has forced Shell to take the pump in question out of service, has now been viewed on Facebook more than 700,000 times.

Mr Evans said: "I didn't expect it to go the way it has.

"I first noticed the problem a few weeks ago but I didn't have my phone with me, so I went back.

"There must be hundreds of people who have gone to the petrol station, and just not thought to look.

"When I complained to the cashier he didn't exactly sound surprised. He tried to say that it's normal and happens because the pump has air in it and is filling up with petrol.

"I like Shell fuel the best so I always go to that garage, but I won't be anymore."

Mr Evans later visited the Shell garage, in Rayleigh High Road, to see whether it was a standard fault - but found the pump there worked correctly.

He has since complained to Shell head office and Trading standards about the A127 petrol station.

A spokesman for Shell said: "We take matters like this very seriously and we'd like to thank the Echo for bringing it to our attention. As soon as we were made aware of it, site staff checked the site's pumps and all were found to be working properly.

“However, on rare occasions our pumps may develop faults. The pump Mr Evans used has been taken out of service in order for our maintenance contractor to carry out a full inspection."