RURAL motorists in the North East are facing huge fuel prices and possible filling station closures due to the rising price of oil.
George Murray, who runs a filling station in Bellingham, Northumberland, has had to put his prices up to £1.47 per litre for diesel and £1.40 for petrol to meet the increasing cost from his suppliers.
He has seen sales fall by around a half in the last four months and says he is only staying open because other parts of his business are profitable.
His predicament has come at a time of rising fuel prices around the country, with calls to make petrol cheaper in isolated areas where people are more dependent on their cars.
Last week, the Government said it would reduce the price of petrol in some remote island communities, but not for isolated areas like Northumberland.
Mr Murray said: “My fuel sales are down by half since November, and it has become a vicious circle. It’s hard for the people but it’s getting harder for me too during the recession.
“I get my deliveries from the Jarrow terminal and either the fuel companies are putting up the price to my deliverer, or my deliverer is putting up the prices to me. I’ve got to have a margin, so I have to put the pump prices up. I have loyal customers, and I try to stay loyal to them, but I have to make a profit, even if it’s just a small one.”
After 25 years in the village, Mr Murray said many of his customers have stayed loyal to him at Northern Garage in Redesmouth Road.
But he added: “It costs more to bring the stuff out to rural areas like here.
“I’m the only filling station in Bellingham and the nearest ones at Chollerford and Knowesgate are 10 miles away, where they charge similar prices at the pumps.
“People are tending to buy less at a time – perhaps just £10 or £20 worth instead of filling up.
“People who travel distances can fill up elsewhere. I was always 4p higher than Hexham but it’s 8p now, so it makes sense for them to fill up where it’s cheaper. But people who don’t leave Bellingham often, like the older folk, do still come to me. The villagers know the situation and are OK about it, but it isn’t easy for them – or for me.
“Luckily, the fuel is only a part of my business, as I also run a garage and do MOT testing and so on. But if I was relying on fuel alone, it simply wouldn’t be worth opening. You couldn’t live just off the fuel now, whereas you could have just about done it in the past.
“The problems started with the bad weather in November and December, but now it’s the recession that’s making life difficult.
“When the tourist season starts again, and people are coming through Bellingham, it may ease a little, but who knows?”
Earlier this week, Chancellor George Osborne gave his biggest hint yet that measures to reduce the impact of rising oil prices at the petrol pump would be included 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.
