British supermarkets promise to stop selling Russian diesel

BRITISH retailers said they were “fully committed” to phasing out the Kremlin’s oil after supermarkets were accused of selling Russian diesel on their forecourts.

Environmental campaigners have said that Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons filled up their fuel tanks at a site in Essex where a shipment of Russian diesel arrived this week. The lorries were photographed at Navigator Terminals just hours after a 33,000-ton shipment was delivered, Greenpeace said.

Andrew Opie, a director at the British Retail Consortium, said its members were “fully committed to phasing out Russian oil” and were working to do so as quickly as possible while ensuring a good supply of fuel for customers.

Russia supplies 18pc of the UK’S diesel, used mainly for cars and other transport. The UK has committed to phase out Russian oil by the end of the year in an attempt to “[choke] off a valuable source of income” to Moscow.

The UK government has banned Russian owned or operated ships from docking in UK ports, but ships flying other flags are permitted to import Russian fossil fuels.

More than 70pc of people want the UK government to bring in an immediate ban on imports of Russian oil and gas, according to a recent Yougov poll.