Customers at a Sussex garage who fill their cars with fuel but cannot pay are being asked to leave their thumbprints behind.

In the past, workers at Cuff Miller petrol station, in Horsham Road, Angmering, had asked motorists to leave their personal details.

But people would leave bogus information, making it hard to chase-up payment, and leave the business out of pocket. This practice is known as bilking.

Now, staff say the number of people avoiding payment has reduced since they started asking penniless customers to leave their thumbprints.

The station has had posters saying: "If you fill your vehicle without means of payment we may, under instructions from Sussex Police, be taking your thumbprint."

A police spokesman says the wording is inaccurate because officers had only advised the station on ways to deter fraudsters.

But Jackie Williams, Cuff Miller forecourt manager, said the move dramatically cut bilking at the station and scared off "some undesirables".

She said: "In other parts of the country, people not paying is a bigger problem than it is here but putting signs up has helped.

"You should not be allowed to come in without any money and drive off with a car full of petrol.

"Since we've had the signs up it does not happen so often. We're not saying you have got to put your thumbprint down, we are only asking.

"If they say no, they say no, but we do point out they are also on CCTV."

Jackie explained that the idea to ask for thumbprints - which can then be given to police and used to trace non-payers - came from a crime reduction convention in London.

She said: "It does make a difference, some of these people just do not care. You get a few for £3, £10, sometimes more, and they think they can get away with it.

"Different staff might not know if it's the same person and they keep coming back. Now we ask for prints, we have got rid of some undesirable characters.

"You can't walk into Tesco with a trolley full of shopping and say you will pay for it next week but the petrol is already in the car.

"Apart from siphoning it or holding peoples' property - which can get us into trouble - the customer has pay for it later."

Jackie stressed they would not force people to leave a thumbprint although most of the customers asked had been happy to oblige.

A spokesman for Sussex Police said there was no laws governing request for fingerprints and the station was not acting inappropriately.

He said: "In Bognor Regis, there was a similar scheme with cheques. If anyone was writing a cheque, they were asked if they mind putting a thumbprint on it.

"You are not going to want to hang around if you are paying with a stolen cheque. It's purely a deterrent."

Cuff Miller agreed the wording on its posters was wrong and intended to change the posters so it says under guidance from Sussex Police, rather than instructions.

Thumbprints are destroyed when the payment is made.