‘It’s time local people boycotted Towcester fuel stations, they’ve been ripping us off for years’

Residents in Towcester have been keeping watch on the varying prices in fuel in the surrounding areas after noticing a vast difference.

With Towcester fuel sometimes being up by 13p than fuel only six miles away, residents using the fuel stops are becoming increasingly cross.

One resident said: “Simple. Stop buying in Towcester, you are only creating the demand.”

There have been a number of other comments to support this, adding: “It’s time local people boycotted Towcester fuel stations, they’ve been ripping us off for years.”

Other comments seen added were about Towcester having no supermarket fuel station so there is no competition for the fuel giants to keep costs low as they have a captive audience.

On today’s fuel watch (September 16) these were the prices of the fuel at the most local fuel stations to Towcester and the surrounding area:

-Shell A5/A43 roundabout 173.9p

-BP A45/Silverstone/McDonalds 172.9p

-BP Watling Street, Paulerspury 173.9p

-BP A45 Grange Farm (south) 159.9p

-Shell A45 London Road (north) 159.9p

-Morrisons Northampton 163.9p

-Tesco Northampton 164.3p

-BP Roade Service Station 160.9p

Chronicle and Echo approached BP for information on how fuel prices are set.

A spokesman said: “There are around 1,200 BP branded sites in the UK. BP operates just over 300 of these. BP sets pump prices at retail sites we operate and we aim to price competitively with other local sites. We monitor our prices daily on a site-by-site basis. Prices take into account are local market conditions, cost of operations and cost of delivering fuel to particular areas.”

The company added that the BP sites listed here were all franchises, apart from the Silverstone/McDonalds one, which is owned and operated by BP.

A review undertaken on fuel prices by the competition and markets authority was sent to the Government by business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng in July 2022, which highlighted concerns in some areas, who said: “There are significant differences in price between rural and urban areas.” In light of this, a full market study has been launched with results expected in the autumn.

In the meantime, franchise fuel stations in the area are all setting their own prices, independently.