Diesel hits £1.50-a-litre in Shropshire

Fuel prices reached record highs in Shropshire today as panic-buying pushed diesel to more than £1.50 a litre.

Even the cost of regular unleaded hit £1.45 – up 10p from the start of the month.

Some forecourts were forced to close after selling out of fuel while many others were rationing the amount customers could buy.

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Despite the restrictions, some reported selling up to six times the usual amount of fuel in just 24 hours.

Garages were open until midnight to cope with demand, but still queues began forming as early as 6am today – before some forecourts had even opened.

Nationally, the crisis has pushed prices to record averages of 140.9p per litre for unleaded and 147.1p for diesel, with some garages accused of profiteering.

Sales of unleaded petrol shot up by 172 per cent yesterday and diesel by 77 per cent as the panic-buying frenzy continued across the country.

And it was reported today the backlog of deliveries caused by the panic-buying could mean a wait of up to three days for supplies to be replenished after motorists flocked to garages across the UK to fill up ahead of a possible strike by fuel tanker drivers.

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There continued to be queues until almost 11pm yesterday at the BP Parkway service station in Madeley, Telford – despite prices of 150.9p per litre for diesel and 145.9p per litre for unleaded petrol.

One motorist said: "Prices at this filling station tend to be a couple of pence more than other places even in normal times, but seem to have jumped significantly in the last few days.

"I think it was 147.9p for diesel at the weekend, and then I noticed it had gone up to 148.9p. When I passed first thing yesterday no prices were shown, and next I knew they had gone up to 150.9p for diesel."

Tony Edwards, managing director of Rutters in Bridgnorth, said: "We ran out of diesel yesterday at 4pm and then unleaded soon after. We sold 20,000 litres of fuel yesterday, compared with the normal 7-8,000 litres. We haven't put the price up."

Chris Evans, a manager at the Esso Trench Lock 24/7, which closed twice yesterday, said they were expecting to run out of unleaded later today.

Mike Morrey, of Harlescott Service Station, on Harlescott Lane, Shrewsbury, said the station sold out of petrol at 11am yesterday but said despite the sold out signs customers were still turning up today.

He said they did not know when the next tanker was due. In Ellesmere, Mere Motors sold 35,000 litres of fuel yesterday.

General manager Julie Edwards usually sells 10,000 litres a day.

She said: "We are running restricted sales of £30 . We put this in place this morning after selling 35,000 litres yesterday alone. I am expecting a tanker in the morning."

Robert Fox, of the Mount Petrol Station in Copthorne, Shrewsbury, said the garage sold just under 18,000 litres of fuel yesterday, against a normal daily average of 3,500 litres.

He said: "It was absolutely insane yesterday. There were queues all up the road. We have run out of diesel but we are expecting a tanker so we should be okay."

David Knight, managing director at Tower Services in Cheshire Street, Market Drayton, said: "We are very busy, I would expect to sell out at lunchtime today. Yesterday I sold around four times as much as I normally do."

See also:

• Telford petrol pumps closed in queue chaos

• Leader: Bad advice given to motorists over fuelRead more: http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2012/03/29/leader-bad-advice-given-to-motorists-over-fuel/#ixzz1qaryABEl