This Is Guernsey

GRANDES Rocques Garage proprietor Brian Le Page said the States was profiteering from the motorist. The wholesale cost of fuel had gone up by 2p a few days ago and he said market prices did fluctuate.

‘But the States take a bigger cut than the garages and it’s the garages who have the cost of pumps, forecourts, tanks, premises and labour,’ he said.

‘We make less than the States and they accuse us of profiteering because they’ve screwed up and have a black hole to fill.’

Braye Road Garage proprietor Dave Finn said petrol had now gone up 7p in the last week as his supplier, Shell, had already imposed increases of 2p and 3p.

‘The price of oil is going up and it’s very easy to put tax on things such as fuel and cigarettes,’ he said.

Notification had come by fax from Shell that duty on petrol would rise by 2p from midnight yesterday.

‘We will hold our prices as long as our tanks will allow us, then it will have to go up by 5p because we can’t afford to carry it,’ said Mr Finn

Guernsey Motor Trades’ Association chairman Dave Beausire said the group had nothing more to say on fuel prices.

He expected prices to rise at the pump soon as many forecourts would have taken deliveries from their supplier yesterday.

‘From a personal point of view, we have had 18 months of zero-10 now and I don’t believe that any consideration has been shown as far as small local businesses are concerned,’ he said.

‘The only way people will get their voices heard is at the ballot box next year.’

CORNERSTONE licensee Richard Cann said the licensed trade was being kicked again.

‘A rise in duty was inevitable, but it’s a shame for an industry that’s not the easiest one to be in at the moment,’ he said.

He said bars had already had large increases in the cost of their licences and another rise in duty earlier in the year.

‘All these things mount up. We still have our staff and premises to pay for whether we are full or not and our fixed costs don’t change.

‘I don’t think people will drink less, but they’ll drink differently and might buy more from the supermarket to have at home.’

Guernsey Licensed Victuallers’ Association president Peter Leigh said his group had not discussed the Budget.

‘My own feeling is that once again it’s a kick in the teeth for the working man,’ he said.

‘Manufacturers’ increases are made in April, so it’s a double whammy for us.’

He believed people who wanted to drink and smoke would carry on, but he was not sure where. The smoking ban had already affected pub trade.

‘The supermarkets are doing two-for-one deals, which is just the sort of thing that we are being asked not to do and it’s becoming cheaper for people to drink at home,’ he said.

Examples of how the Budget would affect people in different earning brackets, printed in the Guernsey Press, showed that everybody would be worse off, he said.

Guernsey Hospitality and Tourism Group chairman Chris Sharp said it would be more expensive for people to dine and drink out, but an increase in duty had been inevitable.