UK hit with nationwide payment issues as drivers unable to fill up petrol and diesel at forecourts

Sainsbury’s confirmed the problem and said it was having difficulty with a “third-party” payment provider.

In a comment to GB News, the supermarket explained that contactless payment was “briefly unavailable” earlier this morning.

The retailer detailed: “This was due to an issue with our third-party payment provider. We’re accepting all payments as usual and continue to monitor the situation.

“We’re sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.”

But some drivers are still having issues, posting on social media, one user said they have been waiting to fill up most of today.

Someone else shared: “National Sainsbury’s problem. Same issue at the Sainsbury’s local on the Warwick Road, although there are no signs on the door so you only find out after you’ve collected all of your shopping and got to the till. So frustrating.”

The retailer said at the time it was investigating the cause of the contamination and stopped selling the unleaded fuel at the Chippenham location.

It also stated that it could not confirm how many people were affected by the issue and what remedies could be offered in the future.

A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s said: “We have received a small number of complaints from customers who used the unleaded pumps at our Chippenham petrol filling station on Wednesday afternoon.

“Unleaded petrol is unavailable while we investigate and we continue to offer diesel and super unleaded.

At present, the average UK cost for a litre of petrol is 144.94p per litre, while diesel drivers are paying just over £1.50 a litre.