A father-of-two and independent business owner single-handedly has taken on Tesco as he faced them in court.

Daniel Peters, 34, paid out more than £500 just weeks before Christmas after his car broke down almost immediately after he had filled up his car with petrol from the Tesco garage in Faversham.

He has always claimed that its fuel was to blame but Tesco have persistently maintained their innocence and this week, a judge ruled in the superstore’s favour because of a lack of evidence.

Back in December, the supermarket giant had admitted to a handful of cases of contaminated petrol but with Mr Peters using a separate tank, Tesco refused to take responsibility.

Unbeknown to each other, two others, Janet Feaver from Boughton and Richard Newell from Conyer had also complained after using the same premium unleaded Momentum petrol – but just like Mr Peters, their claims were rejected.

Mr Peters recently climbed the final hurdle as he battled Tesco’s legal team at Canterbury County Court, in front of district judge David Batey.

It was dismissed after Mr Batey decided there was not enough evidence and that Mr Peters’ mechanic, who had tested and fixed the car, should have been called as a witness to add more weight to his argument.

Mr Batey said: “Mr Peters alleges that damage to his vehicle was a result of contamination of fuel which he purchased from Tesco.

“Unfortunately, I haven’t heard any evidence from Graham Gent from Mr Peters’ garage so it is not clear what basis he formed his conclusions.

“He does not specify what the foreign substance which contaminated the fuel was and what tests he carried out on the vehicle.

“I have to make a decision with the evidence I have in front of me. Mr Peters must demonstrate, on the balance of probabilities, contamination of Tesco fuel was to blame for the car’s problems.

“I don’t have the level of detail that I would need to arrive at a conclusion, such as what tests were carried out.

“Mr Peters has failed to prove his claim, so therefore I must dismiss it.”

Mr Peters, who runs the Studio in Mortimer Street in Herne Bay, said he was not there for compensation, he just wanted the money back he had spent on the petrol itself and for the recovery and repairs of his vehicle.

“It is very disappointing. The little man has lost again against the supermarket giant" - Daniel Peters

He said he was shocked that Tesco asked for Mr Peters’ to pay the court costs, a request which Mr Batey declined.

He said after the case: “It is very disappointing. The little man has lost again against the supermarket giant.

“There were certain aspects of the legal side that I was not aware of because I just do not have enough money to fund legal representation or receive advice, and obviously Tesco had all their bases covered.

“If I had hired a solicitor, it would have cost me thousands of pounds and as an independent business owner, I could never have afforded that.

“It was always going to be tough and I am glad I tried, but it wasn’t to be.”