Petrol station drops £1.99 charge

The station said it had been trying to conserve stocks

A Devon petrol station which charged £1.99 a litre for petrol has dropped its prices after coming under fire for cashing in on fuel shortages.

Foxhayes garage at Exwick, near Exeter, was charging the equivalent of more than £9 a gallon on Monday, saying it wanted to conserve stocks.

Fuel price watchdogs slammed the increase as "inexcusable".

And on Tuesday the price had dropped to £1.20 a litre for petrol and £1.36 for diesel, with a maximum £5 spend.

A member of staff at the garage told BBC News: "It got a bit extreme. I heard on the radio that we were more vilified than George Bush."

The woman, who did not want to be named, said motorists had been "quite pleasant" despite the rise in prices.

"Some taxi drivers were upset because they did not see the price before they filled up."

The frustration and anger among the business community is growing by the hour Tim Jones

The petrol station is hoping to receive new supplies on Wednesday.

Fuel price comparison website petrolprices.com said on Monday: "Putting the price up so much at a time when drivers in the South West are being hit worst by strikes is inexcusable."

Nearly 600 petrol stations in Devon and Cornwall ran out of supplies on the final day of an industrial dispute by tanker drivers over pay.

Devon and Cornwall Business Council said it expected some fuel stations will have to wait until Friday for new supplies, while the threat of another strike remained for the coming weekend.

The four-day strike by Shell tanker drivers, which ended on Monday, was felt in petrol stations across the region because the main supply depot at Cattedown in Plymouth was picketed.

Business Council chairman Tim Jones told BBC News: "The impact of this right across the board is absolutely horrifying.

"The frustration and anger among the business community is growing by the hour.

"Fuel prices are already high, there is a credit crunch and this is the last straw. Businesses are on their knees."