Shonky servos are out of order

Thousands of motorists have been lining up on Tuesday nights as bowsers suddenly appear "out of use" during the cheapest time of the week.

Prices in Sydney skyrocketed 17 cents this morning alone, up on yesterday's average of $1.58 as calculated by the NRMA.

According to the Australian Institute of Petroleum, the previous record high was $1.61.8 a fortnight ago.

Fed-up Sydney driver Richard Bobb took matters into his own hands and revealed grubby selling tactics that have been missed by both the new petrol commissioner and the NSW Department of Fair Trading.

For the past month, Mr Bobb has been filling up his tank from an "out of use" unleaded petrol pump at the Shell/Coles Express in Padstow.

"One day I thought, this is ridiculous it can't be out of petrol every Tuesday so I gave it a try and it worked," he said.

Federal Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Consumer Affairs Chris Bowen has asked petrol commissioner Patrick Walker to look at the problem.

"I am concerned at reports that some motorists may be missing out on filling up their cars with fuel on the cheaper Tuesday or Wednesday morning due to questionable practices from certain petrol retailers," Mr Bowen said.

NRMA president Alan Evans said he had heard stories of the practice happening frequently on Tuesdays but that the apparent evidence revealed by Mr Bobb was "reprehensible".

"Doing this to discourage people buying petrol on a cheap day is outrageous. I can't believe people would stoop so low," he said.

Coles spokesman Jim Cooper said the company was working to determine the cause of the pump not being in use while still holding petrol.

"Often, there may be a potential problem, a suspected leak or fuel contamination for instance, with a pump that can't be isolated to a particular hose. To maintain proper environment and safety standards, the 'not in use' signs will go on all hoses running off that pump as a precaution while the problem is looked into and isolated," he said.

But The Daily Telegraph filled up at the station yesterday with the same closed unleaded hose used by Mr Bobb, which was on the same operational pump as an E10 blend still in use.

On Tuesday night, Mr Bobb filled his tank with 50 litres of the "out of use" petrol, costing him $76.45 after the 4c discount - it was the third time since the beginning of June.

Over the Easter weekend, Fair Trading did a spot inspection of about 400 stations across NSW after complaints that about 25 per cent had premium unleaded bowsers closed. The results were passed to the ACCC.