Petrol cost gap grows as cut not passed on
The cost of filling up with petrol is varying by as much as £2 a tank from town to town because some retailers are not passing on a fall in wholesale costs, a report revealed today.
The disparity was highlighted by the Automobile Association, which also said the fall in average petrol prices appeared to have stalled.
The average price of unleaded hit a year high of 140.03p a litre on March 3 and fell to 137.72p on March 24.
Since then, prices have stalled close to 137.9p a litre and averaged 137.84p on Tuesday. The AA said average diesel prices continued to fall, down from a year high of 146.46p a litre on March 4 to 143.57p on Easter Monday.
Record fuel prices were set in April last year with petrol hitting 142.48p a litre and diesel 147.91p.
Wholesale petrol costs started to rise again last week as the market anticipated greater demand with the start of the United States' motoring season.
AA president Edmund King said: "Unlike the US, drivers in the UK and Europe have been left high and dry by the lack of fuel price transparency.
"It has also allowed retailers to decide when and where savings for this essential part of family spending are passed on."
In Shropshire, many outlets were matching each other for price-per-litre but there were disparities, according to www.petrolprices.com
In Telford, Asda and Sainsbury's in the town and Morrisons in Wellington were selling unleaded at £134.9 while the price at Tesco was £135.9, £138.9 at the Red Lion Service Station in Wellington and £147.9 at the M54 Telford Services Shell pumps.
The petrol price at Stan's Superstore in St Martins, near Oswestry, was 136.9p a litre.
Andrew Faulks, a partner at the store, said: "People are more conscious of the price of fuel than anything else."
Prices for fuel at Morrison's petrol station in Beatrice Street in Oswestry was 135.9p a litre for unleaded and 139.9p for diesel while at the Shell garage on Salop Road, customers were paying 136.9p for unleaded and 140.9p for diesel.
