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INDEPENDENT PETROL stations warned this week that not only is
Page 16
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the price of diesel likelyto increase despite the 2p/lit rise in fuel duty being delayed, but also that there will be fewer places for hauliers to fill up.
Independent petrol stations have been closing at the rate of nearly two a day (600 a year) for several years, says the Federation of Petroleum Suppliers (FPS). While the FPS welcomes the delay in duty increase, it adds: "This does not solve problems created by duty rises for independent forecourts, it merely puts them off until October."
The issue for independent petrol stations is that the price of fuel has risen so much that some cannot afford the minimum loads that oil companies will deliver typically around 30,000 litres. Also, small petrol station operators find it difficult because they have to pay duty when fuel is delivered, rather than when they sell it. The FPS has been campaigning for years to have this changed.
There are 6,300 independent petrol stations left in the UK, says the FPS, but if the current rate of closure continues, hardly any will remain in 10 years' time.