DAVID Cameron yesterday hinted hard-pressed motorists in areas like Northumberland could get help with soaring fuel prices.
The Prime Minister said his administration was listening “very carefully” to warnings about the impact of high fuel costs ahead of this month’s Budget after Berwick MP Sir Alan Beith challenged him in the Commons.
The news comes after The Journal revealed that one Northumberland petrol station has had to increase prices up to £1.47 per litre for diesel and £1.40 for petrol to meet rising suppliers’ costs.
George Murray, who runs the filling station in Bellingham, has seen sales fall by around 50% in the last four months and said he was only staying open because other parts of his business were profitable.
Speaking during Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, Sir Alan Beith said: “Do the Prime Minister and the Chancellor recognise the severe impact of exceptionally high petrol and diesel prices on rural communities in England, like Northumberland, where prices tend to be 5 to 10p higher a litre than in cities, where people have long distance to travel to work and public transport is very limited?
“May we hope for some relief in the Budget?”
Mr Cameron said the Liberal Democrat MP had made an “important” point, adding: “The argument has been made about high fuel costs and we are listening to that very carefully and he will have to wait for the Budget on that.”
His comments come just days after Chancellor George Osborne dropped a huge hint yet that he could act to reduce the impact of rising oil prices at the petrol pump in his Budget.
Duty is due to rise by another 1p per litre next month but Mr Osborne has given clear signals that drivers can expect that to be put off. Last week, the Government also confirmed it would take up to 5p off fuel prices for remote island communities.
AA president Edmund King, also visiting professor of transport at Newcastle University, said: “£6 a gallon is not just another milestone along the road to higher fuel prices, it marks the point at which the wheels start to come off mobility in 21st century UK.
“Lower-income drivers, poorer rural residents, volunteer drivers, youngsters looking to their first jobs are some of the vulnerable groups struggling to stay on the road.”
