Motorists from across the UK are driving miles to a petrol station in the north of England that is selling petrol for the bargain price of £1.60. So much so that ironically, drivers are actually using more petrol than they would to top-up to take advantage of the staggering prices.
The rising cost of petrol and diesel has fed into the UK's cost of living crisis. Add that to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, the UK had a major petrol supply problem.
However, one petrol station manager wants to keep petrol low to help people during what is a difficult time financially for many.
Advert
Sam Barber is manager of Jet Oakley petrol station in West Auckland, County Durham. With the cost of petrol and diesel reaching incredibly expensive heights, some may say Mr Barber is mad. You would think Barber was just doing a lovely gesture, however, the petrol station manager says the low prices are positively impacting his independent business.
"It’s in our best interest to keep prices down, to get more people shopping inside the business and spending money in the shop," he said,
"The garage has been her for over 50 years, so we’ve always tried to keep them low for the community.
"We’ve seen an increase in customers and people who have come to us for the first time because of the cheap fuel."
Advert
Like the price of petrol, diesel also sees a sizeable difference to most other petrol stations at a cost of £1.75. The price tag comfortably beats supermarket chains such as Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda and Morrisons.
According to the RAC, the average price of petrol in the UK right now is £1.72 per litre, with diesel at £1.83. At its worse, petrol hiked at £1.91 per litre earlier this summer, meanwhile diesel was as high as £1.99.
As deliveries have resumed to normal, some chains have not reduced prices to consumers.
Barber doesn't agree, though.
Advert
"We had to put them up as they were going up, unfortunately," he said.
"We tried to hold off as much as we could when the prices were rising.
"I still don’t understand why they are as high as they are considering what we are paying and charging."
"With our cheap prices, we know people are passing several stations to get to us.
"We have had a few nice comments saying that our prices are so low, and they will be coming back here because of the service."
Topics: UK News
Callum Jones