TRUCKERS were left high and dry when Customs and Excise officers raided England's largest truck stop in Lymm.

Poplar 2000 Truck Stop, on junction 20 of the M6, was temporarily closed when customs and excise officers discovered 600,000 litres of contaminated diesel.

The tanks at the service area, one of the biggest HGV refuelling stops in Europe, were closed again on Friday while the suspect fuel was seized for examination.

It is currently under investigation to discover how and why the fuel became contaminated.

"We can confirm that Customs & Excise has taken away 600,000 litres of contaminated diesel from our service area at Lymm," said a spokesman for Moto Hospitality which owns the truck stop.

"However, the fuel was not for sale to the general public. It was bunkered fuel that had been paid for in advance by various transport companies and stored by us on their behalf and it was delivered by a third party."

The spokesman said Moto Hospitality acted as stock holder and therefore has no responsibility for, nor influence in, the origin or quality of the fuel.

"A specialist cleaning company has now purged the tanks of the contaminant which we believe to have been kerosene," he added.

One HGV driver said he was unable to get diesel from the truck stop on the Friday, and had heard conflicting reports as to why fuel was not available.

"One man told me the tanks were contaminated and another driver had been told that kerosene was involved," he said,

"But a member of staff there said that supplies were running low and that they couldn't get a delivery because of the problems in the Middle East.

"It does cause problems because my company is on a pre-pay system, as are many drivers, and there are only certain sites we can use," he added.

Customs and Excise has confirmed that fuel was removed and says investigations into the suspect diesel are continuing.