THE owner of a petrol station selling its fuel at rock bottom prices says he is doing it to give back to the community.
Drivers have been flocking from miles away to Jet Oakley petrol station in West Auckland, County Durham.
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It is selling unleaded petrol for as cheap as 160p a litre and diesel for 175p a litre, reports LadBible.
Petrol prices have been easing slightly recent weeks after reaching record highs, but are still far more expensive than usual.
The AA reported average petrol prices were at 175p last week with diesel at roughly 185p.
But manager at Jet Oakley Sam Barber, said it was in the petrol station’s “best interests” to keep prices down, as it meant more people inside shopping and spending money.
He added: “The garage has been here for over 50 years, so we’ve always tried to keep prices 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.”
Wholesale fuel prices have been soaring in recent months, in part due to the world emerging from lockdowns after coronavirus and therefore using more fuel, and the war in Ukraine.
As they’ve eased off, there have been calls for the cost savings to be passed on to motorists more quickly.
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Luke Bosdet, the AA’s fuel price spokesman, previously warned that savings would only come “providing the fuel trade is prepared to pass them on”.
But a lot of independently-owned stations are reducing their prices, while larger supermarkets have been criticised for not doing so.
Sam said he did not understand why some chains had not dropped their prices to reflect the wholesale prices going down.
He said the station had tried to hold off from increasing its prices, and “didn’t understand why they are high as they are considering what we are paying and charging”.
He added he knew because of his garage’s cheap prices, motorists were passing “several stations” to fill up there.
Drivers have been advised to keep an eye out for cheap fuel prices on their travels – independent forecourts may charge considerably less than big brands.
And while Sam has reported that drivers are coming to his forecourt from miles away, it’s worth point out that if you drive a long way just to save a few pennies on fuel, the extra miles on your journey could wipe out the savings.
How to get cheap fuel?
Rather than banking on a petrol station near you being the cheapest or having to drive around for miles to find the least expensive, there are some other options.
On the PetrolPrices app and website, you can check prices from more than 8,000 forecourts near you.
It compiles data offered up by the public as well.
Comparison website Confused.com also has a petrol prices checker that lets registered users find petrol prices within a five, 10 or 25mile radius.
And finally, Fleet News and Allstar lets you check petrol prices across multiple counties to see how your area compares to others across the UK.
We previously revealed a Tik Tokker’s hacks to save on petrol.
