Fuel price rip off 2023
Fuel price rip off 2023
Drivers are paying up to £12 more to fill up their tanks at petrol stations that are less than three miles apart as Government faces mounting pressure to rein in rip-off fuel sellers.
- Drivers at Toddington services paid 173.9p a litre for petrol or diesel
- But only three miles away, they could purchase 151.9p for petrol and 152.9p for diesel
- Huge disparities are aggravating fears that drivers are being ripped off
Filling up a fuel tank can be as much as £12 more expensive at petrol stations less than three miles apart. Most drivers know that purchasing fuel at a motorway service station is likely to be the more expensive option – but just how much might come as a shock.
Drivers filling up at the BP garage at Toddington services, between junctions 11A and 12 of the M1 motorway north of Luton on Friday, 11th Aug, were paying 173.9p a litre for diesel and petrol.
Meanwhile, almost three miles from Junction 11A, an Esso petrol station charged 152.9p for diesel and 151.9p for petrol. That means a typical 55-litre tank costs approximately £95 at the motorway service station and around £83 to £84 at the Esso.
Motorists in the Midlands were charged 178.9p for petrol and 179.9p for diesel at Tamworth services on the M42, meaning it would cost nearly £98 to refill the average tank from empty. However, with petrol and diesel prices of 147.8p and 146.8p, respectively, at the Applegreen garage on Derby Road, around 33 miles away, drivers could fill the same sized fuel tank for approximately £81 - a significant £17 difference.
And it’s not a dissimilar story up in Scotland either. Drivers filling up at the Stirling services just off the M80 and M9 motorways paid 173.9p for unleaded and diesel. But just a few short miles away, the prices were a much reduced 153.9 for unleaded fuel and 155.9p for diesel.
Such enormous disparities will heighten fears that drivers are being ripped off, intensifying pressure on the Government to do more in these challenging economic times to rein in prices. Ministers have already committed to a price-watch scheme to help drivers make a more educated decision about where to fill up. The proposed new scheme, which regulators would operate, will require petrol stations and other retailers to share petrol and diesel prices via an app or central platform.