Chaos appeared to ensue at the opening of a petrol station in Melbourne backed by real estate celebrity Adrian Portelli.

Hundreds of people turned up on Wednesday night to see Portelli and muscle cars. The only catch? There was no actual fuel.

Meanwhile an e-bike rider was reportedly struck by a car and police had to tow vehicles from the scene.

Portelli has promised petrol on Thursday at $1 a litre from the station in Preston, in Melbourne's north.

But that deal will only be available to members of his controversial LMCT+ subscription scheme which starts at around $20 a month and goes up to as much as $100.

"I support those who support me," the infamous buyer of houses on The Block said of limiting the discount.

Last month, the company that runs LMCT+ was fined $40,000 in South Australia after being found guilty on 10 counts of conducting an illegal lottery. It did not hold licences to operate the draws.

The company says it is compliant in other states. Portelli, who has become a billionaire through property and gambling ventures, was found not guilty of nine counts of assisting in the conduct of those lotteries.

On Wednesday night in Preston, people gathered under the canopy of the servo to get selfies with Portelli as well as women in jump suits posing with sports cars.

With no petrol on offer, people queued for food from the shop. One person in attendance was given a cash giveaway.

TheDaily Maildescribed chaotic scenes outside as people swarmed the area, muscle cars descended and an electric bike rider collided with a car.

The rider reportedly got up and fled the area with the police in pursuit. A car was later towed from the scene while one driver loitering by a green light had to be chased away by security.

Petrol pump prices

In December, LMCT+ said of its fuel outlets "The big players in the petrol game didn't want to give you guys discounted fuel, so Adrian's gone out and bought his own to give members a whopping fuel discount".

Portelli told the Mail on Wednesday he wanted to "relieve" prices for motorists and he would look at "taking a hit" to do that.

But with supplies restricted by the US and Israel's war with Iran, it's unclear how even someone with the Instagram reach of the so-called "Lambo guy" will achieve significantly lower prices.

With fuel costs rising, he conceded petrol at his station would have to go up from the one day discount.

"This is just something to say thank you.

"But, obviously (we will) have to at some point increase our prices".

The Preston site is a former Shell garage. LMCT+ has said it has ambitious plans to open more the 50 petrol station across Australia with the model that the cheapest fuel will only go to those who subscribe to Portelli's program.

TheHerald Sun reported that the opening of an LMCT+ station in Truganina, west of Melbourne, had to be shut down by police last month after a $100,000 fuel giveaway led to traffic snarl ups.

Portelli insisted he had traffic control measures in place at Preston and had spoken to local police to try and prevent a repeat of the mayhem.

"The last thing we want is to open this and it gets shut down," he told the paper.

But asked if he would pay for the extra policing costs associated with the servo's opening, he refused.

"I have paid over $100m in tax - they can f**king pay for it."

Originally published as No fuel: Chaos at Portelli petrol station