Teacher Lewis Fox thought he was doing his bit for the environment and following government guidelines when he bought an electric car.

Instead, he says the decision to go green has disrupted his life because BP pulse chargers at his nearest supermarket are constantly out of order.

Lewis Fox explains the problems he's had

The 22-year-old said while he did not regret swapping his old diesel for a £21,000 electric VW Golf, getting it topped up had proved a "nightmare".

Since he picked up the keys last December he has been left without wheels and having to walk from his Gillingham home to his job at a secondary school.

He's missed out on family occasions over Christmas and has had to rely on lifts because his car was not charged.

His main gripe is with the BP facility at the Asda in Pier Road, Gillingham.

He said one of the two chargers was out of action for nearly three months and calls to the company to fix it fell on deaf ears.

He is particularly angry because he's paying the energy giant for monthly membership to charge for a discount or free of charge.

Lewis, who is dad to five-week-old Sophie, said: "I thought that by going with a big name like BP, they would be reliable.

"I never imagined that I would have so much trouble getting the car charged. I only charge my car up about twice a week, but I know some people charge once a day.

"If we are all eventually going to go electric, this needs to be sorted out sooner rather than later.

"The car is far better value for money, but getting it charged is restricting my day-to-day life.

"I have emailed BP's customer care and they have said they would get technicians out, but they haven't turned up.

"I have even written to the chief executive but not had a reply."

Speaking on Wednesday, a BP spokesman said: “We’re sorry Mr Lewis has had difficulty charging his electric vehicle at this particular charging site on a number of occasions.

"Following a visit from one of our engineers last Friday, the unit is now fully operational and is delivering charge to our customers.

“As one of the fastest growing networks, and the most used public charging network in the UK – with the highest daily demand from customers – we recognise that we have not always managed to keep up with this huge level of growth and almost exponential demand for our services.

"We know that some of our customers have not had a good experience and we are truly sorry. We’re investing in people, hardware and upgrading our technology to help us deliver significant operational improvement for our customers.”

The sale of all new petrol and diesel cars and vans will be banned by 2040.