Stranded woman '˜disgusted' after car key breaks off in Gosport

Elloise Wilson from Gosport said the confrontation happened when staff at the Gulf Grange Road Filling Station and a nearby car wash started demanding she move her car away from the pumps.

The 23-year-old said: ‘I’m disgusted that there were eight men there and they were all shouting abuse at me and telling me the car had to be moved.’

But the car was stranded with the steering wheel immobilised and half the key stuck in the ignition.

She said: ‘When the key broke I went into the shop to tell them what happened and ask if it was okay to use my phone to call the AA out.

‘The AA told me it would be an hour before they could get there, but the attendant said that wasn’t good enough and that it had to be moved.

‘He wanted me to push it out of the way of the pumps, but being six-and-a-half months’ pregnant I couldn’t do that.

‘He got some of the guys from the car wash next door to come over as well and before long they were all basically shouting abuse at me.’

Ms Wilson ended up calling the police to defuse the standoff.

‘I was on my own and it was all just a case of “you’re causing an issue”.’

But the filling station assistant, Kande Rasalingam, denied acting improperly.

Mr Rasalingam said: ‘I didn’t say anything harsh to her.

‘We just asked her to move the car and she started crying.

‘I didn’t realise she was pregnant.’

He said the station had lost some business because the car was stuck in front of one of the pumps.

He said: ‘I asked them [the car wash staff] to help her to move the car and she said it was an automatic, so it was locked. She called the AA and her mum and then the police came.’

The AA technician could not extricate the broken key from the ignition and had to call in a tow truck to have the vehicle moved.

A police spokesman said: ‘We were called to a report of a dispute at Grange Road Filling Station.

‘Police arrived and defused the situation.

‘The car was recovered by the owner.’