Supermarket should play fair over fuel prices

From: Geoff Cooling, Sleights.

WHEN I came to Whitby many years ago now, it was noticeable that fuel prices were significantly higher than other Yorkshire areas I had worked in.

Then along came Sainsbury’s, welcomed by the motorist (perhaps not the high street), if just for the long-awaited cheaper superstore fuel prices enjoyed by other parts of the country. This worked for a while and local garages had to adjust or pricematch to compete.

So why is Sainsbury’s fuel now the same as other local garages and why is it up to 10p a litre dearer than at the Sainsbury’s and other superstores at York?

No one would support or condone the criminal, illegal and stupid activities seen recently in France. No, we at Whitby put up with the extortionate local pricing without any fuss; we simply keep digging deeper and deeper into our pockets.

Do the local fuel suppliers care? I suspect not. We are a captive audience in an era, if not an area, of low wages.

So come on Sainsbury’s, follow your other national outlets and let’s have their prices and hopefully a return to a fairer and affordable, competitive market.

Every other commodity on sale in the Whitby store is similar to other Sainsbury’s and priced to beat local competition, so why not fuel?