Shropshire coach firm in plea over fuel duty

A Shropshire coach firm owner is urging the Government to step back from more fuel increases, as he claimed his fuel bill rose by £42,000 last year.

Mike Owen, of Owen's Travelmaster in Oswestry, says the fuel prices are now almost the same as the all time high of 2008 and it is businesses that are literally carrying the can now that diesel is more expensive than petrol.

He now wants the Government to scrap its plans to put fuel duty up by a penny a litre in April.

His company runs coach holidays, short breaks and concert trips, but also has eight home to school travel contracts with three local authorities.

Mr Owen says his company is feeling the effects of continual increases and says diesel vehicles are the worst hit.

He said: "It was not many years ago that diesel was cheaper than petrol and we were all being urged to buy more economic diesel cars and vehicles.

"Now, apart from Switzerland, Britain is the only country in Europe where diesel is more expensive than petrol and we also have the second highest fuel prices.

"I simply do not understand why diesel, which is used by haulage firms, transport companies and other businesses, is so expensive. We are carrying the can, quite literally.

"Even though we do not pay VAT on our fuel our bill has risen by £42,000 in just 12 months. In January 2009 we were paying 83p a litre, now it is £1.07 without VAT," he said.

Mr Owen said it was virtually impossible to recoup the losses.

"Our home to school contracts were set in September and back then two of the three local authorities refused to increase our contract. So we are having to mop up the fuel increase ourselves - we are constantly working in arrears."

Mr Owen said that with the rest of the coach business it was difficult to pass on the increasing fuel costs to customers.

He said it was a fine line between increasing the cost and making the trip too expensive and prohibitive for customers. "We are also having to look very closely at trips which are not fully booked," he said.

"In the past we would have still run holidays that were not heavily subscribed to avoid disappointing customers. Sadly now we have to ensure that each trip is viable."

By Sue Austin