‘I tend to think motorway services are ripping people off,’ says one driver
Gloucester Services South(Image: Emma Trimble / SWNS)
A tank of fuel at Gloucester Services costs nearly £20 more than a nearby supermarket, research has revealed. Filling up at motorway services can see drivers paying up to 34p a litre more for unleaded fuel, according to an analysis by British Fuel Prices.
By travelling to an ordinary forecourt just two miles away, motorists around the UK can save typically around 26.1p a litre on petrol – or £11.55 a tank.
The conflict in the Middle East has seen the price of fuel being pushed up, with diesel prices hitting an all-time high of 199.33p per litre this week.
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The research found the widest gap is at Gloucester Services at 197.9p, against 164.7p at Asda Quedgeley Supermarket which is 2.1 miles away – a saving of 34p or £18.70 a tank of unleaded.
On Wednesday (September 30), there were long queues as drivers flocked to the Asda pumps to take advantage of its cheaper prices.
Ian and Jean Jameson, from Newcastle upon Tyne, said they would never stop at a motorway services to fill up for fuel if they could help it.
Ian and Jean Jameson from Newcastle(Image: Emma Trimble / SWNS)
Speaking from Gloucester services for a leg stretch, retired teacher Ian, 80, said: “I do question how they justify these prices and how these companies get away with it.
“I tend to think motorway services are ripping people off.
“We get our fuel from our local Tesco at home and I checked the fuel price yesterday – it was 163.9p.
“But driving down here on the motorway, a lot of these petrol stations are over £2.
“We’d never buy our fuel from a motorway services especially if we could just pop a bit further down the road.”
Grandmother-of-two Jean, 78, added: “We tend to use the local buses nowadays as we’re retired and we’ve got our bus passes.
“It’s one shopping trip a week in the car on a Saturday so we don’t have to carry anything.”
At 108 of the 121 motorway service areas, an ordinary forecourt is within 3 miles and typically 2 miles away, research has shown.
Across the UK, petrol at motorway services averages 193.4p a litre against 173.9p at other forecourts.
Diesel averages 214.5p on the motorway against 199.2p elsewhere.
Speaking from Asda Quedgeley Supermarket in Gloucester, lorry driver Rich Blythe said he was expecting to see blockades reminiscent of the fuel protests back in 2000.
Rich Blythe from Gloucester(Image: Emma Trimble / SWNS)
He said: “With the way fuel prices are going, I think there will be blockades in the future.
“It happened before all those years ago in the early 2000s when prices went really sky high.
“General fuel prices back then were quite low but they did go to £2 per litre.
“There were lorries on forecourts and lorries slow driving on motorways to hold people up.
“The reason for that was to not let the fuel tankers into the garages and stop the companies from profiting.
“I don’t pay for my own fuel however fuel prices at pumps are getting ridiculous.
“The main garages like BP, Shell, putting their prices up and making others put their prices up because of that.
“People like Asda, where I am now, are quite low and this is one of the lowest in the area.
“If I was running my own car, I would be looking at alternatives which would restrict the work I do.
“I’m quite fortunate at the moment in that I have a lorry issued to me which I can park locally.”
Sam Allcock, editor of British Fuel Prices, said: “Most drivers know motorway fuel is dear, but not many realise how close the alternative is.
“At almost nine in ten service areas there is an ordinary forecourt within three miles, and at Gloucester it is 34p a litre cheaper.
“If you have enough fuel to get off at the next junction, it is worth doing.”