MOTORISTS cashing in at Britain’s cheapest petrol station are driving residents mad with long queues snarling up roads near their homes.
Drivers are coming from miles away to top up at an outlet next to a Sainsbury’s supermarket in the Black Country.
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Yet while customers are celebrating the lowest fuel prices around, neighbours are complaining about the lengthy tailbacks through the area – especially during rush hour.
Long queues waiting for “bargain” petrol at the filling station behind the Sainsbury’s store in Raglan Street, Wolverhampton, are said to be causing “chaos”.
One local, who can drive but chooses not to have a car at present, said: “They’re getting the best price for fuel, so good for them – but it’s a bit of a nightmare for people living nearby.”
Rowan Preece, another resident, described queues of cars snaking along roads in the neighbourhood.
The 27-year-old teacher, who travels by public transport to her job in Birmingham, said: “The garage sells really cheap petrol so everyone goes there – I would be filling up there if I had a car.”
But she added: “There are a lot of queues which causes tailbacks for traffic at rush hour and is worse in the evenings.”
The price of fuel at stations across the UK varies by as much as 45p per litre, according to a recent survey – amid government plans to launch a new “Pumpwatch” price comparison service.
The “fuel finder” scheme would show drivers online where they can bag the best deals.
The cheapest for now is at this Sainsbury’s in Wolverhampton at 130.9p, according to price comparison website PetrolPrices.
The cost has since risen marginally to 131p, still well below the average unleaded price of 142p.
When The Sun Online visited the premises – with our team taking advantage and topping up too – we witnessed constant queues at all pumps throughout the day.
Sales manager Stuart Green, 44, filling up his large Renault Trafic van, said: “It’s very good value and I come here a lot – it’s always busy.
“It’s about the cheapest around and you get Nectar points too.”
He spends about £85 to 90 for his vehicle each time and said it was good customers were “getting better prices at the pumps” – especially after a surge in costs last year.
Another fan is 63-year-old local Leszek Lys, who especially appreciates the prices when driving to Aberdeen in Scotland to visit son Adam.
He said: “It’s the cheapest fuel I’ve known for many months and it really helps that the price of a needed commodity has come down rather than go up.”
His son Adam, a joiner, has been visiting him – and said: “Whenever I’m down here I fill up at the petrol station nearest to my dad’s house, which is conveniently the cheapest for many miles.
“People come from nearby and afar to fill up – you want to go with the best price.
“When my dad fills up his Renault it costs £50 to £60 – it’s a bearable price to pay.”
I come out of my way to fill up here
Driver Vaidas Kazlauyskas
Thirty-year-old planning consultant Caroline Rodger, spending £60 on petrol for her Suzuki for £60, agreed: “It’s very good value here and to think what petrol prices were.
“I live in the area and always come here for petrol and a shop at Sainsbury’s.”
Lithuanian lorry driver Vaidas Kazlauskas, 26, spending £80 for a full tank of diesel for his Ford Mondeo car, said: “I come out of my way to fill up here.
“It’s a fine deal and there’s always long queues here.”
Non-driving dad Resham Singh said: “I don’t own a car but I know the prices at the petrol station are very good and it gets very busy.
“I don’t know how they can keep their prices so competitive, but it’s clearly working.”
But Resham, who sells car parts and walks to work, noted the traffic queues near the home he shares with wife Baljeet were “sometimes a problem”.
He added: “It can be very congested, but we walk everywhere with our three-year-old so avoid the roads.”
An assistant at the petrol station stayed quiet on how the prices were kept so low, saying: “The bosses don’t tell us, we’re too far down the food chain.
“But we’re the cheapest in the country apparently, so no wonder we’re always so busy.
“We’re in a good position here next to a massive Sainsbury’s store and we’re busy all the time.
“It’s satisfying to be able to give good value to our customers and not be ripping them off.”
The new survey suggests Britain’s most expensive sites for unleaded fuel are at M6 Stafford service areas, where Esso and BP garages on opposite carriageways both charge 175.9p per litre.
Analysts at PetrolPrices say the UK’s average price for unleaded is now 142p, down 48p on the same time last year.
They also put the average price of diesel at 144p, down 54p in 12 months.
The latest figures come after the Competition and Markets Authority watchdog recommended setting up a new comparison system to help drivers identify the cheapest garages.
The UK’s second most expensive sites for unleaded petrol are the Esso M42 Tamworth services in Staffordshire and the Shell M1 Markham Vale services near Chesterfield in Derbyshire, with both charging 172.9p.
The cheapest in Britain after the Sainsbury’s in Wolverhampton is an Asda in the same city, at 131.7p – followed by a nearby Tesco at 131.9p.
‘MOTORISTS USED AS CASH COWS’
Prices are said to vary between service stations for factors such as wholesale price, transporting the fuel to forecourts and service station operating costs.
Dealer-owned sites are also influenced by the bulk fuel price at the time they bought their stock and how long it takes them to work through their stocks.
But while wholesale costs were falling, supermarkets took in an extra £900million last year alone.
A CMA report report earlier this month found some retailers have been charging drivers 6p more per litre for fuel – meaning the four supermarket fuel retailers made about £75million extra each month last year.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt recently said: “It isn’t fair that businesses are refusing to pass on lower prices to protect their profits while working people struggle with balancing their budgets.
“Consumers need to be treated fairly and so we’re empowering drivers to find the best prices possible for their fuel by taking swift steps following the CMA’s recommendations.’
And energy security secretary Grant Shapps accused “some fuel retailers” of “using motorists as cash cows”, while also praising The Sun’s long campaigning “to hold rip-off retailers to account”.
He said: “They jacked up their prices when fuel costs rocketed, but failed to pass on savings now costs have fallen.
“It cannot be right that at a time when families are struggling with rising living costs, retailers are prioritising their bottom line, putting upwards pressure on inflation and pocketing hundreds of millions of pounds at the expense of hard-working people.”
After a meeting with Mr Shapps, supermarkets Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons agreed to share cost data with the public by next month.
Other petrol stations said to be among the UK’s cheapest include another Sainsbury’s outlet, this time in the South Wales town of Cwmbran, Torfaen.
Elsewhere in Wales a garage owner in Narberth, Pembrokeshire, insisted his prices were the best in Britain.
A photo showed pumps touting a litre of unleaded being sold for 132.9p and a litre of diesel for 139.9p.
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson told The Sun Online: “Pump prices differ throughout the UK – including outlets owned by the same company – for a range of reasons, including our cost to serve and the dynamics of local competition.
“We welcome greater pricing transparency in the fuel market and we consistently offer among the lowest fuel prices in every area that we operate.
“We continue to work closely and cooperate with the CMA and government on their ongoing recommendations.”
They were asked for any response to residents’ complaints about traffic congestion.
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