Christmas may have come early today for some lucky Auckland drivers struggling to cope with rising petrol prices. From 11am to midday people could fill up for free at BP Connect Ormiston in Auckland and BP Connect Dallington in Linwood, Christchurch.
Dozens of cars were seen lining up in Ormiston hoping to take advantage of the BP promotion.
"We just finished and the bro was on the internet and we just found it," said one lucky punter, "Bro said there was free gas in Ormiston so we just came out from Maraitai and just drove out. We just drove out, thought 'might as well give it a go', and here I am."
Before the promotion, 91 regular was $2.16 per litre at the station.
"I feel good, saved my money for myself and now my cars full!"
Staff member Leigh Taylor says, "We've been completely blown away by the response that we had. We're also doing this in Christchurch today for one hour. We wanted to surprise people we wanted it to be really exciting and we absolutely achieved that, we're so delighted to bring so much happiness to so many people today."
Despite the queues, those lucky enough to fill up for free were grateful.
One customer says, "50 minutes ago my dad called me and said 'I saw this ad that BP is doing this free thing' and I only live five minutes away so he's like 'take the car out'. So straight away I took the car out, I turned the road and instantly I was like 'oh'- there was a huge as line. It took me like 30-40 minutes when it should've taken 5 minutes but I'm happy, I'm stoked, free gas!"
"I was at school and I saw through the window that there was free gas so I texted my aunty from school," says another.
Workers at BP say to keep an eye out for more surprises in the future.