From JOHN EVANS
In his reply (Letters, 13 July) to Graham Chamber’s original query on
the absence of locking petrol delivery hoses in England, D. A. Seymour (and
the accompanying cartoon) both come fairly close to the truth with their
visions of flooded forecourts.
Like Chambers, I too was frustrated by the absence of the small pin
on which the locking device depends – and which seems to be universal abroad.
Rather predictably my cash desk enquiries were a waste of breath but when
I saw a mechanic servicing a pump a few months ago, I pounced and got the
low-down on the whole business. Evidently the pins are fitted by the manufacturer
but then have to be removed from all self-service petrol (but not diesel)
pumps to follow a Health and Safety Executive edict that their use is potentially
dangerous. The reason – flooded forecourts! The automatic device to stop
petrol flow when the tank is nearly full is apparently not infallible.
My mechanic’s reply when I asked if the edict was really justified cannot
be printed in a family magazine but the general tenor was that it was completely
stupid.
John Evans Abingdon, Oxfordshire
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