FUEL price rises sparked a mass of panic buying before the new duty came in. Motorists desperate to delay paying more for their fuel queued at garages around the island on New Year’s Eve.
Duty on petrol and diesel rose dramatically yesterday as the cost of the States’ decision to abolish motor tax was pushed onto the price of fuel.
Both fuels now have a duty of 29p per litre. Petrol rose by 14ppl, having already had 15ppl levied against it, and diesel, which previously had no duty at all, rose by the full 29ppl.
Cars stretched along Braye Road from 8am as drivers took the last opportunity to fill up before the duty came in.
Some made multiple trips to fill up can after can.
Dave Finn of Braye Road Garage said Saturday and Monday were the busiest days he had ever seen.
‘Our tanks ran dry and we had the tankers out to restock,’ he said as he tried to deal with the long queue of traffic.
‘It’s been a busy time. Since we opened today ‘Monday’ at 8am there has been a queue. We expected it to be busy, but we didn’t expect it to be this busy.
‘This is the biggest rise in the cost of fuel that I have ever seen and any fuel we get in after 1 January will have to be charged at the new price.’
Mr Finn said one customer filled up her car and nine cans.
‘She said she reckoned she had saved about £130 by getting it in bulk now,’ he said.
Customer Len Collenette, 65, said he thought most drivers would be trying to fill up before the new year.
‘It’s a bit of a free-for-all and you have to fill up cheaply while you can,’ he said.
‘We were always planning to fill up the day before the rises came in. I have a boat as well that I will be filling up today. It’s just a case of trying to save a bit of money while you can. That extra 14p is a lot and adds up.
‘Lots of people were filling up cans as well, which could be a danger, I think. It’s all right if they have somewhere to store it.’
Tracie Dyer said she spent £29 filling up.
‘I have already been once and now I’m doing my mum’s car as well,’ she said. ‘It would have cost me quite a lot more to fill up on Wednesday, so I wanted to take advantage of the lower price. My husband might come down this afternoon to fill up some cans as well.
‘It’s a bit like panic buying. When I came down this morning there were not that many people but as I left, the queues were building up and now they’re really big.’
Dave Bartlett, 68, said he was glad to have had one last opportunity to fill up before the prices rose.
‘It’s our last chance, but I didn’t think it would be this busy,’ he said. ‘I thought there would be a queue, but not all the way down the road.’
* Drivers no longer need to display a tax disc in their car window but insurance discs will be phased in this year.
Article posted on 2nd January, 2008 - 12.00am
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