A routine week for a Sheffield fencing company turned into a stream of phone calls from confused residents, after fuel payments made at a local petrol station began appearing under the company’s name.

Hillsborough Fencing first noticed the technical issue involving the Bradfield Road petrol station six weeks ago, when it received an influx of more than ten calls a day.

Jason Lloyd, Managing Director for Hillsborough Fencing, said: “At first it was worrying, thinking that people would think we were scamming them out of their money.”

According to Mr Lloyd, customers at the petrol station were consistently seeing ‘Hillsborough Fencing’ appear on bank statements after their payments, causing confusion amongst the residents of Hillsborough.

Staff at Hillsborough Fencing say the volume of calls has taken up a significant time each day, with almost 100 people contacting them, to find out what was going on..

“Every time somebody rings, we are spending sometimes five to ten minutes speaking to them and explaining to them the situation,” Mr Lloyd said.

The company expressed that they had done everything they could to contact the petrol station about the situation but heard nothing in response.

“They will not tell me how they are trying to rectify it; they’ve never rang me once,” Lloyd added.

One member of a local Hillsborough community Facebook group said, “Now this is something that needs addressing by people. I used it, and I know what I bought, but this is what comes up on my card and what garage it is.”

Other members questioned whether this could be some sort of scam.

Hillsborough Fencing has been a family-run business for the last 25 years.

Customers who notice unexpected merchant names on their bank statements are advised to contact their bank directly to confirm the source of the payment.

Harvest Energy, the company that owns the Bradfield Road petrol station, was contacted for comment but did not respond.