We’ve bought our own petrol station to save thousands
IT is a problem faced by thousands of motorists throughout rural Scotland.
But residents in a remote village have bought a disused petrol station to save them making a 30-mile round trip for fuel.
Villagers in Newcastleton, Roxburghshire, are saving up to £1,000 a year in fuel costs since the £320,000 petrol station renovation.
The village had no filling station for a decade, forcing residents, most of whom are self-employed or work in agriculture, to travel 17 miles to Hawick or to Carlisle, 25 miles away.
The petrol station is now processing 21,000 litres per week, and between 400,000 and 500,000 litres per year.
A windfall of £320,000 in funding, including from the National Lottery, paid for the refurbishment, which included a new forecourt and fuel tanks. All the money is reinvested in the village and Gulf rents the business on condition it is properly staffed and kept clean.
Community council chairman Greg Cuthbert, 58, said many families have three or four cars, while the elderly population depended on their cars as only four buses a day serve the village.
The father of two added: ‘It has been a huge saving, £900 to £1,000 a year. We live in a beautiful place, the kids can go out and play and you can leave doors unlocked. It’s like the 1950s. Crime here is a rarity.
‘Everybody got used to getting fuel in Carlisle or Hawick.
‘With an elderly population, you would probably get someone taking the car there for them and bringing it back for them. They mostly use their cars in the local area.
‘People who live in a farming community were having to go into town to fill up jerry cans for quad bikes.’
Mr Cuthbert, who worked as a mobile hairdresser, said: ‘It has been fantastic. The community has been here 250 years. It is the way to go.
‘We have a good relationship with the fuel supplier. We rent them the fuel station, Gulf run it and we don’t have a great deal of risk.’
The last petrol station closed 15 years ago and badly affected the local economy. Mr Cuthbert said: ‘There was a decline in shopping in the village because people would go to Carlisle to shop and fill up.
‘A lot of footfall has come back, you can see businesses thriving. It’s been great for the village, a godsend.’