MOTORISTS are paying up to 54p per gallon a more for fuel depending on where they buy petrol.
Last Thursday, Asda in Lower Earley reduced the price of a litre of unleaded to 122.7p, while the BP garage on Reading Road, Winnersh was selling the fuel for 134.9p. On Sunday, the price had dropped a penny to 133.9p.
This means that a gallon of unleaded from Asda would cost £5.47, while costing £6.01 from the BP garage, a difference of 54p.
An angry reader contacted The Wokingham Paper to express his displeasure at the price difference.
“Wokingham is always way, way more expensive than anywhere else,” he said. “The cost of a barrel of oil has gone down, but people in Wokingham are getting ripped off.
“They won’t pass on the saving.
“The BP opposite Asda is cheaper than the Reading Road one, 9p cheaper than Wokingham.”
A Wokingham Paper investigation has confirmed the prices.
On Friday evening, the prices varied the closer you got to Wokingham town centre.
The BP at the Three Tuns crossroads in Earley was asking motorists to pay 128.9p for unleaded and 131.9p for diesel.
The Winnersh crossroads BP was 129.9p for unleaded and 132.9p for diesel.
The BP at Lower Earley, opposite Asda, was 126.8p for unleaded and 129.8p for diesel, while the Asda was 122.7p for unleaded and 126.7p for diesel.
Meanwhile, the BP on Reading Road was 134.9p for unleaded and 138.9p for diesel; the Shell garage nearby was 133.9p and 137.9p. The price at the BP had gone down by Sunday but was still 11.2p a litre more expensive than Asda’s lower price fuel.
Asda’s senior fuel buyer Dave Tyrer said: “We know that transport costs put the most pressure on household incomes, so we will always do whatever we can to reduce that burden.
“We were the first supermarket to lower pump prices last week and further decreases in the wholesale market mean we are able to reduce our prices further. This means we’ve dropped prices by up to 5ppl on unleaded and up to 3ppl on diesel in just over a week.”
The prices have also caused concern to Howard Cox, who leads FairFuelUK, a campaign group that wants independent price controls set up.
He said: “In 12 weeks to June 15, for example, as oil prices rose significantly, wholesale prices increased by 5.4p for diesel and 4.5p for petrol, but opportunistically pump prices rocketed by a huge 9.5p for diesel and 9.4p, petrol.
“UK drivers have been paying 4p to 5p more than needed. That’s, for the average family car, about £2.50 extra per fill up. We believe these shocking price hikes have gifted £500m of extra profit to fuel supply chain businesses.
“It is crucial that the Government wakes up to this recurrent fleecing of hard working drivers and small businesses.
“By introducing an independent price monitoring body, we call PumpWatch, this would check this opportunistic commercial profiteering for good! The Government’s undertaking to cap household energy bills was welcomed by all, but they seem to be happy to allow hard-working families to be ripped off every time they fill up at the pumps. We urge Theresa May and her administration to investigate the murky world of pump pricing as it has escaped real scrutiny for far too long.”
BP has been approached for a comment
Prices may have changed since this article was written
