'Mad' rush in Shropshire over falling fuel prices

Filling stations have once again been cutting the prices of petrol and diesel over the past week, meaning that both fuels are now cheaper than they were last year.

And diesel continues to be cheaper than petrol, after last month falling below the price of petrol for the first time in 15 years.

One of the cheapest retailers in the county is Morrisons in Shrewsbury, which is now selling diesel at 110.9p a litre, and standard unleaded petrol at 113.9p a litre.

In the south of the county, the Spar filling station in Bishop's Castle was inundated with customers after reducing its prices on Friday.

At the moment it is charging 116.9p for diesel and 117.9p for petrol. The station's Gareth Ney said: "We cut the prices on Friday, and it went mad over the weekend, we were very busy."

In Telford, Tesco Extra at Wrekin Retail Park is charging 111.9p a litre for diesel and 114.9p a litre for petrol.

The Esso garage at Trench Lock charges 112.9p a litre for diesel and 115.9 for petrol, while the company's garage at Haybridge Road, Hadley, charges 116.9p a litre for petrol and 114.9p a litre for diesel. In Tong, near Albrighton, the Total service station is charging 114.9p a litre for petrol and 113.9p a litre for diesel.

In the north of the county DA Roberts at Grindley Brook Garage, Whitchurch, charges 115.9p a litre for petrol and 111.9p a litre for diesel.

The RAC Foundation has welcomed the price cuts.

Director Steve Gooding said: "This is welcome news but has been a long time coming.

"The wholesale price of diesel dropped below that of petrol back in May but only in the past week or so have we seen this starting to be reflected at the pumps.

"We would hope this is not the end of the reductions as the price of diesel at the refinery gate is still 4p per litre cheaper than that of petrol."

Avishai Moor, Sainsbury's head of fuel, said: "We're once again dropping the price of diesel by up to two pence per litre at all our petrol stations. We know that fuel is a big expense, especially during the summer holidays, and we are committed to helping our customers go further for less."

Morrisons said its latest round of cuts meant diesel prices are now 21 pence a litre cheaper than a year ago.

Mark Todd, petrol director for Morrisons, said: "Further wholesale price drops mean that we can pass more savings on to our customers.

"We will continue to look for opportunities to pass on savings on unleaded as soon as we can."