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The days of cheap fuel when you are home and abroad are over
Motoring is being hit by higher fuel costs all over Europe and sales are down in the UK
The price of fuel in Europe has risen since 2010 and unbelievably it’s the motorists in the United Kingdom (although they may not agree) who has seen the lowest cost rise per litre.
A recent report by the Post Office has indicated that due to the decrease in the value of the pound as well as the current world economic conditions – it is these, which are the 2 main elements having caused there to be a significant increase in the price of unleaded petrol in Europe as well as for British motorists travelling abroad.
Spain again will be a popular destination for British holiday makers, but this year they will notice that the price of fuel there has increased quite sharply when compared to 2010, seeing the average cost of litre of fuel has increased by 26p over the last 12 months.
There’s a growing force of discontentment regarding the increasing fuel costs, and an outcry from all over Europe is now being heard – with the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) which is a organisation representing 35 million drivers including motoring originations such as the RAC and the AA – writing a letter to the European Union requesting a investigation into the heightening cost of fuel at the petrol pumps.
In order to put things into some perspective, a full tank of fuel now costs £10 more that it did 1 year ago, so it’s quite easy to understand how the anger has been sparked by motorists and motoring originations.
In the United Kingdom over the last 12 months there has been less and less motorists filling up at petrol forecourts, a direct impact being the sale of fuel decreased by 20%.
Perhaps a natural knock on effective with motorists being carefully on how much they spend on fuel is that there has been a marked increase in the number of minor breakdowns caused by drivers running out of fuel.
The strange or not so unpredictable thing is that the drivers in Great Britain don’t seem to be planning any similar action against the budget busting forecourt prices unlike our outraged European partners.
11 years ago in the UK there were nationwide fuel protests by lorry drivers which caused chaos, but recently in a similar attempt at the Stanlow oil refinery where there were hopes that over 1000 vehicles would join in and protest, only 100 bothered to participate.
Quentin Wilson a motoring journalist said that the reason that the lorry blockages will not work is that “the protestors have been told that they would lose their licences.” He also added that “people are at breaking point” also adding that he is “often stopped in the street by members of the British general public who are saying they are having to choose between food and fuel”.
Mr Wilson has also taken a petition to Downing Street to ask for the British government to look at what they can do to help to reduce the spiralling cost of fuel in the United Kingdom.