Sainsbury's in Ashford ran out of diesel

by Nisha Chopra

Petrol stations across Kent stand accused of profiteering from the panic at the pumps.

A ring-round of petrol stations across the county reveals prices have gone up at many forecourts in recent days, as garages cash in on the increased demand.

At one station in Sittingbourne prices have been pumped up by almost 4p per litre - from 144.9 to 148.0.

It comes after the government advised drivers to stock up on fuel in case of a tanker driver strike.

Kent campaigner and founder of Fair Fuel UK, Peter Carroll said: "We've received reports from all over the country that stations are taking the opportunity to increase their prices and if true, that is despicable."

"The government should admit it’s made a catastrophic error of judgment in sparking this panic stream."

At the Esso garage, on Key Street, Sittingbourne, as well as the increased in unleaded from 144.9 to 148.0, diesel has risen from 148.9 to 149.9.

A worker at the service station said supplies were running low because many people are buying irrationally. Last night they ran out of diesel.

The Shell filling station on Shipbourne Road, Tonbridge, confirmed it has increased its diesel prices from 145.9 to 146.9. It has kept its unleaded prices at 140.9 but supplies were gradually running low.

The Morrisons filling station in Walderslade haa kept its prices at 138.9 for unleaded. The garage on Princes Avenue is confident they’ll have enough petrol for customers.

On the A2 near Canterbury, the Texaco garage was charging 143.9p for a litre of unleaded – up from 140.9p earlier this week. It only had around 2,000 litres left and supplies are expected to run out by lunchtime.

The Shell garage on the Thanet Way only had enough unleaded to last until around 11am. It was charging 138.9p per litre – up slightly from earlier in the week.

Meanwhile, at the Casino Filling Station in rural Wingham, diesel was on sale at 147.9p per litre – an increase of 1p since the start of the week, according to the PetrolPrices.com website.

Queues built up at petrol stations around the county

Meanwhile in Herne Bay at The Richmond Service Station, unleaded is priced at 147.0p, but there is no delivery until tomorrow and prices are expected to increase even further.

At the Total garage in Whitstable, cars are queueing past the Thanet Way roadworks to fill up their vehicles where there is only 5,000 litres of diesel left available at 147.9p a litre.

MRH Perol Station at Kings Road in Herne Bay has completely run out, with no idea when the next delivery would be. Diesel is selling for 149.0p per litre.

Unleaded is 1.44p per litre at the Crusader Petrol Station in Borstall Hill in Whitstable.

According to PetrolPrices.com within 10 miles of Rainham, which includes the Medway M2 Moto services, the highest price for unleaded is 148.9. The last update was on Wednesday.

During the last fuel strike in 2000, motorists were incensed at the ramped-up prices - at 79.9p, they almost half of what we are roughly paying now.

Mr Carroll adds: "These stations are piling more on drivers already suffering from high petrol prices.

All the government can do now is put out the correct message of keep calm and carry on."

No actual walk-out has been confirmed yet.