PETROL and diesel prices across the Advertiser & Review region have been hitting motorists hard in the pocket.

The price of crude oil rose to $100 (£51) a barrel on Thursday last week following a decline in the amount of crude oil on the market and violence in oil-supplying countries Nigeria and Algeria, dropping to around $96 this week.

Around the region at the time of going to press yesterday, Thursday, the website PetrolPrices.com showed the average price of petrol in Buckingham was 104.9 pence per litre and the price of diesel was 109.4 pence per litre. In the Winslow area petrol was an average of 104.2 pence per litre and diesel was an average of 108.6 pence per litre.

In Brackley, the average price of petrol was said to be 105.3 pence per litre and diesel was 109.4 pence per litre, while in Towcester, petrol was an average of 104.9 pence per litre and diesel 109.4 pence per litre.

In the Bicester area, the website said petrol was an average of 104.8 pence per litre and diesel was 109 pence per litre.

Ron Boyles, of RW Boyles Transport on Buckingham Road, in Brackley, said his firm spent around £25,000 a month on fuel and he feared the price of petrol was crippling everyone.

He said: "It is not just haulage companies, the people we work for are being affected as well. It is getting to the stage for people producing goods that the cost of delivering them is more than what they are receiving from the sale of the goods."

Derek Butler, co-owner of Way to Go Executive Chauffeur Service in Botolph Claydon, said petrol prices were the highest they had ever been, and the cost of petrol consisted mostly of tax.He said: "It is disgusting in that our prices are one of the dearest in the world and I don't know how the Government can retain a 77% tax margin. It gives no-one a chance."

A spokesperson from BP said the cost of a barrel of oil fluctuated from day to day.
She said: "The price of petrol in the forecourt is based on a number of factors. If the cost of oil is high, then some of the cost has to be reflected in the petrol prices. However, we don't pass on the full cost in the price of petrol."

What do you think?
What the motorists say...
WITH the cost of oil rising to $100 (£51) a barrel, motorists in the Advertiser & Review region are finding it increasingly expensive when it comes to filling up their vehicles.

Prices have risen at service stations across the region leading to higher costs for the motorist – with the increase in oil costs also affecting the price of heating the average home.

Reporter Kerry Hathway spoke to customers at a local service station to see what they thought about the rising cost of fuel.

Brian Holdsworth, 60, of Wendover, said people in the United Kingdom usually just accepted petrol price rises, but if enough people protested then perhaps prices would drop.

He said: "The Government has a lot to do with it because they are the ones that are taking the tax from the fuel."

Dave Ferris, 53, of Leighton Buzzard, said: "I feel the same as most people. When you are buying your own fuel all the time, the price rises add a lot to the final bill."

Jordan Cooney, 17, of Grenville Road, Buckingham, passed his driving test three months ago. He agreed petrol was very expensive.
He said: "I am a student so it is hard to get the money together to pay for insurance as well as paying for petrol on top of that."

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