There has been a huge queue at Sainsbury’s in Hereford this afternoon as petrol stations in the county struggle to keep up with demand, especially for Diesel. There is no national shortage of fuel and drivers are advised to remain patient.
With prices rising daily, motorists have been seen queuing at petrol stations in the city and beyond, with Asda temporarily running out of fuel earlier this afternoon. The situation hasn’t been helped by Tesco Petrol Station at Belmont being closed for maintenance work. The work at Tesco Belmont is due to be completed in April.
In some areas of Herefordshire, the price of diesel is now approaching £2 per litre, with further rises expected, meaning further struggles for working families and businesses.
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said earlier this month:
“February was undoubtedly a shocking month for drivers. A rise of 4.5p in any month is bad enough but when it takes pump prices to record levels, it’s bound to hurt households across the UK.
“Motorists are having to endure successive months of rising prices and, sadly, it doesn’t look as though February will be the last. While prices were rising due to oil production not being able to keep up with demand as life becomes more normal again, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused the barrel price to shoot past the $100 a barrel mark for the first time in nearly eight years making wholesale fuel far more expensive.
“We know from RAC research that eight in 10 drivers would struggle to get by without their cars and that the pandemic has made access to a car even more important than ever, but the exorbitant cost of filling up may force people to cut down on non-essential journeys to save money.
“The RAC is now calling on the Treasury to look at an emergency, temporary cut in the VAT rate levied on fuel to ease some of the pain drivers are facing and to better protect them from upcoming rises.”
