A police officer has been dismissed after misfuelling a Vauxhall Astra patrol car and trying to cover up the incident.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the force claimed he knew he had put the wrong fuel in the vehicle but deliberately drove round in an attempt to burn it off.

He was also accused of providing false information to a recovery garage after he told them it was a problem with the immobiliser instead of the fuel. 

He told the newspaper: "They are saying I covered it up afterwards... but I didn't know I put the wrong fuel in," he claimed. "They are saying I told them it was an immobiliser and I misdirected the garage, but I didn't because I didn't know."

A Derbyshire Police spokesman told the Derby Telegraph: “It is absolutely essential that the public have confidence that our officers are dedicated to protecting them and that they exhibit the high standards of honesty and integrity that people rightly expect.

“The overwhelming majority of our officers meet those standards throughout their careers but there are infrequent occasions when individuals may not.