The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Are we paying too much for our fuel?
Supermarket has planning permission for petrol station - but is not revealing its plans
Asupermarket’s lack of filling station has been blamed as Peterborough motorists pay more for petrol at the pumps than elsewhere in the country.
City residents are paying 6p a litre more for unleaded petrol than drivers in cities including Nottingham and Newcastle.
A spokesman for the AA said the reason was due to the lack of an Asda petrol station: “At the end of last year there was a so-called price war at supermarket stations. But, it was a phoney price war - it really only depends on if there is an Asda in the town or city. Asda have the lowest prices, and other supermarkets will reduce their prices to match their local competitors.”
While the Bourges Boulevard Asda store received planning permission to build a petrol station last year, the firm has not commented on when - or if - they would be building a new forecourt.
According to www.petrolprices.com, at the time of going to press, the cheapest petrol in Peterborough was available at a number of supermarkets and petrol stations, costing 120.9p a litre - while in Newcastle and Nottingham, which have an Asda, the prices were as low as 114.7.
The gap was much smaller with diesel- 125.7p in Nottingham and Newcastle, compared to 127.9p a litre in Peterborough.
A spokesman for Saisnbury’s said: “We price our fuel locally and always aim to be competitive.”
On their website, Tesco said: “Fuel prices are based on a number of elements including exchange rates, barrel prices and price of fuel additives. We try to offer the best quality, offering our meal deal and convenience items at the same price as the main store and of course, you earn Clubcard points when you shop with us.”
Howard Cox, founder of campaign group Fair Fuel UK said firms should reduce prices at the pumps.
He said: “Pure opportunistic greed in the fuel supply chain dictates what we pay at the pumps. The number of fuel stations and supermarket outlets have some influence to pricing levels in regions.”
A petition to reduce prices is available at the group’s website www.fairfueluk.com
A spokesman for Petrolprices.com said the price difference could come ‘as a shock’ to regular drivers. He said: “Places that are closer to refineries will have lower costs as there are fewer miles to travel. More remote places such as the Scottish Highlands often have very high prices due to their location and the longer travel times.”
The spokesman added that the lower number of petrol stations in Peterborough could also have an impact on prices.
‘Opportunistic greed... dictates what we pay at the pumps’
‘It really only depends on if there is an Asda’ AA spokesman