An independent store today declared war on major supermarket chains as bosses claimed to have slashed petrol prices as low as anywhere across Britain.

Stans Supermarket, in St Martins, near Oswestry, has announced a price drop of 2p per litre on unleaded and diesel. It is offering unleaded fuel for 127.9p per litre and diesel for 136.9p per litre.

Andrew Faulkes, co-owner of the store, said shoppers spending £50 or more in store would get an extra 7p off per litre.

He said: “We are bringing down the price of fuel which is making us almost the cheapest in the country.

“We always try to be as competitive as we can.

“We are doing it as a thank you to our customers who keep shopping with us.”

Mr Faulkes said he had been checking his prices against others across the UK by visiting www.petrolprices.com which records prices from 10,998 petrol stations.

The website was updated at the end of last week and showed that in the whole of the UK the cheapest price for unleaded was 127.9p.

It showed that the best price for diesel was recorded at 135.9p.

The average price for unleaded was recorded on the website as 133.59p per litre and for diesel 141.16p per litre.

Mr Faulkes said: “Throughout the year having offers like this is something we do as a thank you.”

The Shell garage in Oswestry said today it offered unleaded petrol for 129.9p per litre and diesel for 138.9p per litre.

At EC Ashton & Son, in Four Crosses, unleaded petrol costs 136.9p per litre while diesel is priced at 143.9p.

Mr Faulkes said he had offered similar discounts in the past at Christmas time and it had led to huge queues on the forecourt.

Stans recently revealed plans to expand its business into Llangollen, which could create 20 new full-time and part time jobs in the area.

Planning consent has been obtained for a 3,000sq ft store and an eight pump- filling station on the site of the garage.

The cost of the new store is being kept under wraps.

Mr Faulkes said the work would be carried out by local builders Jones Brothers, who are based in Weston Rhyn, Oswestry.