THOUSANDS of pounds of taxpayers’ cash have been wasted by police officers filling their cars with the wrong kind of fuel.

Since 2005, more than £22,000 has been splashed out because petrol has been put in a diesel tank or vice-versa.

A Freedom of Information request revealed that £2.5m has been spent on repairing police cars across the country over the past three years.

Spending peaked last year when one pound shy of £900,000 – the equivalent of 22 trainee constables – went on fixing damaged vehicles.

The revelations come after the Daily Echo revealed that the service is battling to get out of a £3.5m black hole.