Petrol pump pirates! £18 difference in fuel price at garages just two miles apart
MOTORISTS are facing a ‘forecourt lottery’ which means that the cost of filling up an average car can vary by as much as £18.
Analysis by The Mail on Sunday suggests t he cheapest unleaded petrol in the country – found at a Costco warehouse in Manchester – is 115.7p per litre. In contrast, the most expensive – at a motorway service station on the M4 in West London – cost 147.9p. But just two miles away, we found an Asda supermarket selling unleaded for 116.7p and diesel for 118.7p.
The startling difference between the highest and lowest prices – 32.2p per litre – means that a driver of a car with a typical 55-litre tank could end up paying £17.71 extra to fill up.
Yesterday, motoring and fuel campaigners expressed disbelief at the disparity, amid fears that the Government could be poised to raise fuel duty for the first time in nine years in this month’s Budget.
The differences also come at a time when the price of crude oil has dropped by almost £9 a barrel in the past 12 months. However, over the same period, the average cost of unleaded fuel at the pumps has risen up by almost 5p a litre.
Lobby group FairFuel UK said retail giants were ‘selfishly riding roughshod over the world’s highest-taxed drivers, knowing they will never be policed’.
The most expensive UK forecourt we found last week was at BP’s Heston motorway services on the M4, where unleaded petrol cost 147.9p and diesel was priced at 151.9p.
Experts said pressure was mounting on the Government to increase transparency. One idea is to make retailers upload their prices daily into a Governmentrun app. Such a system operates in France and lets drivers identify the cheapest outlets.
Campaigners and the AllParty Parliamentary Group for Fair Fuel are also pushing for a national fuel price watchdog.
FairFuel UK founder Howard Cox said: ‘How can the Government condone an essential resource being sold at radically different prices?
‘ Gas, electricity, water and telecoms are regulated, so why not fuel?’
An AA spokesman said the Government should revive a scheme which forced motorway service stations t o clearly advertise prices.
‘ Twenty years ago, people didn’t mind paying a few pence more at motorway pumps. They recognised that toilets, picnic areas and free parking were being provided.
‘However, we’ve gone from a few pence to today’s ridiculously high disparity.’
According to the RAC, fuel duty and VAT comprise 63.37 per cent of petrol costs. It means that for every litre sold at 147.9p, the Treasury pockets more than 93p. At 115.7p, the tax take is just over 73p.
‘The price disparity now is ridiculous’