A mum has stumbled upon the perfect solution to every parent's petrol station dilemma... should I leave the kids in the car while paying for fuel? Busy parents, especially those who are the sole caregiver of their child, do not have the luxury of being able to leave their kids with somebody else while they fill up the car.
Many parents have a tricky dilemma of what to do if they are running out of petrol or diesel while travelling with their children. Many petrol stations do offer people the option to pay at the pump with their bank card, but if you would like to use cash or ApplePay, you still have to go inside.
According to the UK Government website, the law does not say an age when you can leave a child on their own, but it’s an offence to leave a child alone if it places them at risk.
The government ask parents to "use their judgement" on how mature their child is before leaving them alone at home or in a car.
However a mum of two, Astin Maisie, stumbled upon the perfect solution to the issue, that has previously led her to driving around in her car despite it having no fuel left in the tank.
She said: "Maybe I'm just stupid and maybe other people knew this and I was the only one that didn't. Anyway I've got a nearly two-year-old and a five-month-old, and for two years I've been driving around and when I get to zero on my tank I just have to keep going because I don't want to get out.
"I'm not getting both the kids out the car to go and pay for my petrol, so I keep driving around until I have an opportunity where someone's with me so that I can get out.
"I know you could leave your kids in the car, but I just get scared doing that in case someone kidnaps them or like breaks into the car in the two minutes that I'm gone.
"I've discovered that you could actually just download the app of the petrol garage and then you can just pay on your phone. But yeah I didn't know that you could download an app and you could just pay on your app."
A number of garages in the UK have this feature including Shell, Esso, Texaco and BP. Once you download the app You can pay at the petrol stations using the "pay at the pump feature".
It allows customers to enter their pump number, select payment type and fuel up without going inside.
Astin siad: "It's actually saved me, I literally just went to get petrol I've been driving around on zero for ages thinking 'am I gonna just break down in the middle of the road'.
"I didn't need to leave the baby or anything so yeah, hopefully this can help another mum or dad because I am dumb and didn't realise that that was the case."
People were quick to thank Astin for bringing the information to their attention.
One person said: "That’s amazing. I didn’t know this so thanks so much for sharing." A second added: "Erm you have just saved my life thank you!"
Other people debated if leaving babies, toddlers and children in the car while you go into the shop to pay for petrol was worth the "panic".
One mum said: "Never understood the panic. I’m out the car at the till and back within a few minutes, car is locked, children are safe in their seats and I have the keys. What on earth is going to happen."
A second said: "I really do not see this as a problem - when I’m paying for fuel, I can still see my car whilst paying through the window."