Member Article

Asda, Sainsbury’s and Tesco set to slash petrol prices

Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Asda have announced that they are to cut the prices of petrol and diesel, starting on Tuesday.

Sainsbury’s and Tesco both announced a drop of up to 5p per litre, while Asda said it would reduce petrol by up to 1p and diesel by 2p.

AA welcomed the move, as did its rival, the RAC, although the group representing independent fuel retailers highlighted fears that the announcements would further endanger local petrol stations.

The head of the RMI Independent Petrol Retailers Association (PRA), Brian Madderson, told the BBC the supermarkets’ latest move would deliver yet another blow to local filling stations, which have been struggling to survive in recent years.

The PRA announced almost 900 independent forecourts had closed between 2008 and 2013, more than a third of which were in rural areas.

Madderson said: “Those businesses are at the heart of rural communities.” adding that they tend to employ up to 10 people, and offer “much needed local facilities”.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said to the BBC that the price of both petrol and diesel had “been low for around three months” and that motorists have already been enjoying “some of the cheapest prices for over three years”.

But he added that the latest price cuts “will take us to a new low, the likes of which we haven’t seen since late 2010, early 2011 when the price of petrol and diesel unfortunately jumped by 10p a litre in just a few months”.

A spokesman for the AA, Luke Bosdet, said the cuts were “particularly welcome as families get back to school runs and into their autumn routines”.

In March, the AA said petrol prices had fallen to their lowest in three years.

However the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the fall in petrol prices was partly to blame for the UK’s inflation rate growing more slowly than expected earlier this year.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .