Unfair price of fuel: MP should launch probe (From Kidderminster Shuttle)
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Unfair price of fuel: MP should launch probe
7:10am Tuesday 4th October 2011 in Letters
WHY are we are paying more for fuel in Wyre Forest than neighbouring towns?
Recent letters in The Shuttle have highlighted prices typically three to four pence per litre higher for petrol and diesel.
Remember the days when Kidderminster supermarkets sold cut-price fuel? That was before small fuel stations and independents were forced out of business with up to 20 stations closing in Wyre Forest.
Now with so few, the supermarkets and other remaining outlets can charge what they like.
There is no real competition in Wyre Forest with stations, including major supermarkets, ‘price matching’, consistently higher than surrounding areas such as Stourbridge.
There is no excuse for this. The vicious Tory VAT rise has increased cost, but the distribution cost and level of fuel tax is the same in other areas.
Supermarkets are able to take advantage of bulk-buying discounts which could be passed onto the motorist. It’s time for an investigation of high fuel prices by Trading Standards and for Wyre Forest MP Mark Garnier to speak out on behalf of his constituents.
Our Tory MP recently spent time with the Royal Fleet Auxilliary as part of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme. It clearly left an impression as he has asked not one but six parliamentary written questions on the workings of the Navy Auxilliary since his return from sea.
Perhaps Mark could now turn his attention to his constituents with the same vigour to ask questions and seek an investigation by the Competition Commission and Office of Fair Trading about high cost fuel and disparity at the pumps.
BARRY McFARLAND Woodfield Crescent Kidderminster
Comments(10)
labourblogger
says...
9:09pm Tue 4 Oct 11
neilhar
says...
4:25pm Wed 5 Oct 11
I buy fuel in Hagley where today it was 133
Jane Gordon
says...
4:56pm Wed 5 Oct 11
Red Flag Dan
says...
10:41am Thu 6 Oct 11
"TORIES VOW TO SLASH FUEL DUTY" Press Association, 6 July 2008
"TORY TAX CUT TO BEAT HIKE IN FUEL" The Sun,7 July 2008
"TORY TAX PLEDGE TO ‘SHARE PAIN OF FUEL RISES" Financial Times, 7 July 2008
Last time oil was $80 a barrel, Petrol cost 95p. So come on Tories - SORT IT OUT!
neilhar
says...
8:22am Fri 7 Oct 11
Jukebox1
says...
8:53am Fri 7 Oct 11
Secondly, I find it commercially unethical for both supermarkets to then offer 5 pence off per litre, when one spends over £50 instore with either of them. This weakens their competition still further and at the same time, acts as a promotion for their instore trading; the ultimate loser being the Customer, who is being duped. I suggest people register online with Petrol Prices.com and also take notice of the small independent at Chaddesley Corbet. I filled-up here this week at £1.309 per liter!
FlipC - The Mad Ranter
says...
3:34pm Fri 7 Oct 11
@Jukebox1: This could potentially be solved by the same solution to the 'cheap booze' argument that (I believe) Don B over at the WFA suggested - run the two as separate businesses with separate accounts
Jukebox1
says...
8:13am Sun 9 Oct 11
Use www.whatgas.com
Save yourself £'s and even more important.........
" Tell as many people in Kidderminster as possible, to join and use this website!"
Sue Doku
says...
10:10am Tue 11 Oct 11
ces.com/ - this is set to show the 5 cheapest outlets within 5 miles of my home postcode, plus the 5 within 5 miles of my work postcode. The ones in the Wolverhampton area are consistently 5-7p a litre cheaper than the Wyre Forest ones, and usually cover a 2-3p price difference. The ones in Wyre Forest are always all exactly the same price. What more does anyone need to show that we are being ripped off. The only cheap outlet anywhere near Stourport is the Chaddesley one, which I always use if on my way to the motorway. The Wyre Forest outlets are a scam.
sonyaseo1987 says...
9:42am Tue 4 Oct 11
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