London:  Police officers in the UK mistakenly filled patrol cars with the wrong type of fuel nearly 300 times in 2017 - at a cost of more than £50,000 ($98,000) in repairs.

Of the UK's 45 police forces, 40 responded and 33 admitted paying out for repairs to a police vehicle after a misfuelling incident last year - at an average cost of £178  a time.

Some 299 incidents of misfuelling were recorded, costing a total of £53,337.

"It's staggering that such a simple mistake is being made almost daily," John O'Connell, chief executive of pressure group the TaxPayers' Alliance said.

"Millions of people manage this task with their own cars by taking a modicum of care - police officers should extend the same courtesy to their vehicles."