Several motorists said they had been affected and there were concerns the station was still unwittingly selling contaminated fuel to customers at 3pm on Friday afternoon.

The Tribune investigated.

The owner provided us with information as to the cause of the problem, but wouldn’t let us report his explanation.

And herein lies the dilemma for a newspaper.

How do you convince those who are media-shy that it is in their best interest to contribute to the story?

By declining to comment, perhaps the service station owner assumed the story would not run.

But instead, his silence fuelled the public’s confusion and left customers feeling ignored.

As it turns out, his initial explanation concerning a water leak turned out to be incorrect and both the diesel and unleaded fuel tanks at the station were contaminated after being filled with the wrong fuels upon delivery.

We contacted the owner again for a follow-up story, and after offering an explanation, an apology to customers and directions on how affected customers were going to be compensated, he again decided it was best not to comment publicly. So none of this information could be used ethically in the story.

This type of media phobia can be frustrating, especially in the interests of running a balanced story.

We understand the station’s fuel tanks have been re-fuelled and are now operating properly again.