SQUATTERS who moved into an empty petrol station and set up a car washing business have been ordered to leave by a county court judge.

The car cleaners say they had been "hugely successful" since they set up at the former Total petrol station in Fulford Road two months ago.

But Total UK, which owns the site, applied for an interim possession order, saying the site was contaminated and unsafe for the five men living and working there.

Squatters' leader Christopher Rose, 32, said: "Our customers were saying they were really glad we were there - because there is no other business like us in York.

"The business has been really successful and we were making hundreds of pounds a day. We tried to make everything official and offered to pay rent to Total as soon as we moved in, but they just won't accept it."

Total said it had been in the process of decommissioning the petrol station when the squatters moved in.

The company plans to sell the site, but would not be drawn on whether anyone had expressed an interest.

Mr Rose, of Fulford, said he had been looking for a site for a car cleaning business.

"We searched everywhere and this seemed ideal," he said. "Total don't seem to want to do anything with the site so we were making good use of it.

"Some engineers from Total came out and dug boreholes to test for contamination and we thought that everything was OK. We had no idea it was a health risk.

"But Total is saying the site is too dangerous for us to stay there and the county court judge agreed so we will have to abide by what they say.

"We are busy looking for another site now so if anyone knows of a suitable place that we could rent legally we are happy to negotiate with them."

Mr Rose said he had managed a similar car washing business in the past and all his team had been trained on site. "We operated from 8am to 6pm and charged £5.50 for a car wash and leathering and customers were pleased with the job we did," he added.

"We lived there mainly to protect the site and look after the business. There were offices, which had plenty of room, as well as toilets and washing facilities."

Michelle Stevens-Hoare, representing Total UK at York County Court, said tests were carried out at the site and hydro carbon contamination was found.

It is essential that it is kept in a controlled environment and moved in a controlled way," she said.

"No one else should be close to the site. No one should be living in a petrol station in any event. There is concern about members of public going into the site, particularly if there is water swilling around it."

Judge Graham Cliffe handed out an interim possession order stating that the squatters must leave the property. The contamination is a risk to the people living on the site and people living nearby and the use of water on the site exaggerates that risk," he said.

A spokeswoman for Total UK said: "We can confirm that we were in the process of decommissioning the above petrol filling station when the site became unlawfully occupied. As a responsible company, Total completes a thorough decommissioning of all its service stations after closure. When this process is completed, the property will be marketed for sale for an alternate use."

Updated: 10:37 Tuesday, August 09, 2005