10:15am Saturday 14th February 2009
By Richard Catton
FUEL prices in York continue to creep upwards with a fourth rise since the beginning of the year.
Earlier this week, unleaded petrol rose above the 90p a litre mark at some petrol stations but dipped below again yesterday.
On Thursday, the BP station in Hull Road was charging 91.9p per litre for unleaded but yesterday had dropped the price back to just below 90p at 89.9p.
However, prices throughout the city are still the highest they have been since Christmas. At Sainsbury’s in Monks Cross, traditionally one of the cheapest filling stations in the city, the price of a litre of unleaded was 87.9 pence – up 3p from earlier this month, while diesel was selling at 97.9p.
Morrisons’ garage, in Foss Islands Road, was charging 87.9p for unleaded and 98.9p for diesel.
Despite York managing to keep the unleaded prices under the 90p a litre threshold, the average price in the UK is now 90.1p with diesel prices already back above £1 a litre, according to the AA.
The motoring organisation said it feared retailers, without the Christmas incentive to compete hard on price and attract customers, were allowing fuel costs to rise.
AA president Edmund King said: “After the dramatic drops in pump prices at the end of last year, it may seem unreasonable to criticise the new rise in prices, particularly when current prices are way below those in February 2008.
“However, the global economy is in recession, the price of oil is 40 per cent lower than when petrol cost 90p a litre in March 2007, and the pound has strengthened in recent days.
“The AA is once again receiving calls from drivers asking why prices are going up and the media in areas like Northern Ireland and Scotland are again reporting motorist anger.
“We can see from wholesale price data for last year that gasoline market prices fell by five to ten per cent in January last year, yet petrol prices rose in the same period. There may be perfectly valid reasons for the current price rises, but a repetition of last year’s behaviour should not be happening again in times of dire family finances.”
A spokesman for Sainsbury’s said: “Recent changes in the exchange rate have had an impact on fuel prices but we aim to keep prices as low as possible. Though we price locally we do set an upper limit on fuel prices. “We price our petrol competitively and review it regularly to ensure customers get the best possible value.”
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