93p a litre and rising... now you can join an email fuel boycott (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

93p a litre and rising... now you can join an email fuel boycott

RAPIDLY rising petrol prices have seen motorists in west Wiltshire paying out more than 90p a litre.

Some petrol stations have seen prices increase by as much as six pence in the past two months with the average cost in the south west now hitting 91.92p.

One Trowbridge family has been forced to move because commuting by car would cost too much in petrol.

Full time mum Melanie Germaney, 26, of Bond Street, said: "The cost of petrol means we have to move.

"My husband has been relocated to Bristol and with the cost of petrol coming to £300 a month we have no choice but to move closer.

"We have to pay whatever the price to fill up. We are still waiting to sell our house but we have to go in two weeks so will have to rent for a while in Bristol."

Cynthia McDonald, 48, a secretary from Trowbridge, said the highest price she had seen was 96p a litre.

"That's ridiculous, but we haven't got a choice. We have to go to work and just can't stop living and the petrol companies know that," she said.

In a Wiltshire Times survey of 10 petrol stations on Bank Holiday Monday the cheapest place to buy petrol was Warminster, where both Warminster east service station and Morrisons are offering unleaded fuel for 89.9p a litre.

Campaigner Malcolm Paton, of Godwins Close, Atworth, is concerned motorists will soon see petrol reaching the £1 mark.

He has responded to an email encouraging motorists to boycott bigger fuel companies such as Esso and BP and is urging other drivers to do the same.

He said: "I've never responded to one of those emails before, I usually just delete them.

"But we are approaching a barrier which we shouldn't go over and that is £1 a litre. It's an unacceptable price to pay for filling up a family car.

"The last time there was such a campaign it was truck drivers but this time ordinary motorists should do something."

Nurse Jacqueline Batten, 39, of Wingfield Road, Trowbridge, fills up her car at least once a week to travel to work in Swindon.

She said: "My husband agrees we should boycott some of the bigger companies. He also commutes and tends to fill up in Tesco, which costs him about £50. With both of us commuting we are always whinging about it."

Dave Gane, 63, a marketing manager, from Southway Park, Bradford on Avon, has to buy petrol daily for his job. He said: "I've given up worrying about it. I've got to have petrol so I need to shop for convenience rather than price.

"There's no point in going too far to buy it because it costs you the money you save to get there."

Diesel prices are also causing problems with motorists with typical costs around 96p a litre.

Steve Elliott, 49, a taxi driver from Gainsborough Rise, Trowbridge, said: "I use diesel and the cheapest is about 95p a litre. Since I bought this car earlier this year, prices have gone up by 10p. I shop at the cheapest one I can find."

Pumping up the prices in Wiltshire

Texaco, Yarnbrook 93.9p

BP, West Ashton Road, Trowbridge 93.9p

Murco, Sandridge Road, Melksham 93.9p

Morrisons, Weymouth Street, Warminster 89.9p

Longbridge Deverill, Warminster 93.9p

Warminster east service station 89.9p

Murco, Woolley Street, Bradford on Avon 92.9p

Tesco, County Way, Trowbridge 91.9p

Sainsbury's, Bath Road, Melksham 91.9p Total, Warminster Road, Westbury 91.9p

(Prices as of Bank Holiday Monday August 29 2005)