A frantic woman who broke down after being unable to pay for her fuel has thanked the good samaritan Asda worker who rushed to help her.
Desperate Sophie Newton spent an hour driving around five service stations as the petrol crisis deepened on Monday.
The 28-year-old was running low and finally found pumps with supply at the superstore as her gauge dropped to zero.
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But Sophie, who works at Ford Warehouse, told how her relief turned to panic as she pulled up in the queue only to notice the kiosk was closed.
Having left her purse at home, she had hoped to pay for her fuel in Wigan with Apple Pay.
After realising this would not be possible, she desperately asked other customers if she could borrow their card and bank transfer the money straight away using online banking.
But this is not something anyone was willing to do.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Sophie, who lives in the Abram area of Wigan, said: “It was awful.
“I kept saying I felt really embarrassed that I had to ask for someone’s help.
“I’m a very independent person and will do anything for myself.
“The old couple said it wasn’t something they wanted to do and I said it was fine. I understood completely.
“By this point it was getting up to two hours and I was really upset and emotional.
“I pulled my car and had a cry to myself and thought, ‘What am I going to do?’
“My partner was 45 minutes away.”
An Asda security guard named James, who was managing the queues at the time, helped calm Sophie down as she became visibly upset.
He allowed her to park her vehicle in a nearby car wash bay until a family member was able to help.
“I asked him if I was okay waiting until I could get my partner to me with a card,” Sophie continued.
“I was crying my eyes out by this point.
“He walked my back over to my car and had a chat with me.
“He really calmed me down, he was so brilliant.”
Sophie’s mother-in-law eventually came to the rescue – but as her card was not contactless, it didn’t work at the pump.
Luckily, Sophie’s partner Adam was then around 10 minutes away and managed to arrive and pay for the fuel.
“James stayed with us the whole time,” Sophie continued.
“I felt so alone, scared and embarrassed.
“I felt awful in general so it meant the world for him to be there.”
