A fuel activist has been overwhelmed with phone calls from desperate motorists in search of fuel, after ‘trolls’ registered his home as a petrol station on Google Maps.
Amid soaring demand for fuel in recent days, drivers have been searching online for potential petrol stations that are open.
During that search, people stumbled across a picture of a BP garage forecourt where Howard Cox’s house should have been.
The unfortunate homeowner received more than 70 calls as a result from drivers who were desperate to fill up their vehicles.
Cox, who founded FairFuelUK – a group calling for cheaper petrol prices – did not see the funny side to the prank, referring to the culprit as “some stupid troll” in a tweet he posted.
According to the Metro, the fuel campaigner blamed “radical greens and cyclists” for the stunt, which he branded as “sick and puerile”.
After two hours, Cox eventually managed to edit the Google Maps entry and remove the petrol station listing.
Asked why he had been targeted, the FairFuelUK founder claimed his campaign group had saved motorists more than £110 billion in planned tax hikes in duty and VAT since 2010.
He said: “This success grates on radical greens and cyclists that want to see the internal combustion engine made extinct.
“For years, I have been targeted by a small group of very vocal social media/mainly anonymous environmental zealots and militant cyclists.
“Despite asking that all road users come together to produce a workable long-term road transport plan that benefits the environment and the economy, the anti-car woke brigade continue to ignore our genuine request to work together.
“Instead, I get abuse, threats, personal attacks, dog faeces through my letter box and this latest Google Map hack.”
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Twitter users were quick to comment, some criticising Cox’s post, while others seeing the funny side and continuing with the jokes.
@Neil_Elkins wrote: “You have your home address on your (many) website(s), anyone could’ve done this. Stop throwing accusations around.”
@Asgard_1973 tweeted: “’Hacked’. That’s not what happened. You don’t even know the correct use of that term. No one ‘hacked into your home address.’”
Some users couldn’t contain their laughter, with @Stokesy1966 saying: “Funniest thing I’ve seen on Twitter for a while, there is a genius among us”.
While, @grahamjbarry35 carried on with the joke: “So do you have any fuel for sale? I could do with some unleaded.”
So far no one has claimed responsibility for the prank, but one review has been left on the fake petrol station by a man called Tom Smith, which says, “Old and a bit smelly. But the fuel is cheap!”
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