During the cost of living crisis, we’ve seen the price of heating and electricity bills, petrol and even butter hit record-highs here in the UK.
But one independent garage, D.A.Roberts Fuels Ltd in Shropshire, has been selling fuel for much cheaper than the average, to help out locals during these difficult financial moments.
On Wednesday, 20 July, owner Dave Roberts was selling a litre of petrol for 166.9p, with a litre of diesel at 185.9p at the Whitchurch-based gas station – which is around 20p cheaper per litre, compared to average fuel costs earlier in the week.
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In fact, on 21 July, the RAC stated in a press release that the average price of a litre of petrol is coming in at 180p per litre, while Diesel is lining up at 196p per litre, according to Experian Catalist price data.
The nationwide spike in fuel prices caused drivers to fill up their tanks without paying at his branch, Dave claims, leaving him with nearly £1,000 worth of fuel stolen last month, BBC News reports.
Instead, Dave decided to cut costs for customers in the area by reducing his profit margin and opting to use local suppliers.
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The petrol station owner said: "Here, we run how we want to run it and we take our margin out what we need and we try and help the locals, the cost of living and that jazz. It's a help towards it.
“We obviously made a good deal with the oil company when we started our contract.
"We are just about to change to another contract which is more local... and carry on giving our local people a good price.”
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He also keeps an eye on the daily market cost for fuel, allowing his petrol station prices to fluctuate accordingly.
He added: "What enables us to keep that up mostly is, we sell a lot of fuel and we keep up-to-date with the daily price, so if the future price alters tomorrow, we can alter it that day after or whatever. That's what enables it to be done."
He also reported that drivers queue up to tap into his fair fuel costs until the garage shuts at night, while ‘it’s not long’ before drivers queue up again at 6.00am when the garage opens.
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Dave also expressed that supermarkets, who have been marking up costs of fuel at ‘only around a penny lower than the UK average’ in recent moments, according to the RAC, are purely ‘reaping in’ the profit.
The RAC said of this statistic: “The RAC continues to urge all retailers – but especially the larger supermarkets that sell the most fuel – to cut pump prices now to reflect the fact the wholesale cost of both petrol and diesel have been falling for six straight weeks now, as a result of the lower oil price.”
If you've been affected by any of the issues in this story, you can find more information about where to get help from Turn2Us via their website.
Gabriella Ferlita