Sainsbury's, Tesco and BP selling fuel significantly higher in Newbury when compared to surrounding areas

Petrol prices in Newbury are significantly higher when compared to other nearby areas in Berkshire and the surrounding counties, a Newbury Weekly News investigation has found.

According to fuel price comparison site PetrolPrices.com, Sainsbury’s in Wantage sells unleaded petrol for 154.9p per litre, while at the Newbury superstore it is sold at 10p more per litre – at 164.9p.

Sainsbury’s garage on Andover Road is even more expensive, charging customers 168.9p per litre of unleaded fuel.

Sainsbury’s Calcot sells the same petrol for 155.9p, and in Didcot it is sold for 157.9p.

In response, a Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “We price locally and always aim to be competitive.”

Another supermarket chain that sells petrol, Tesco, also has unleaded in Newbury priced at 164.9p, while in one Reading store it is sold for 155.9p, nine pence cheaper per litre.

In a similar stance to Sainsbury’s, a Tesco spokesperson said: “We regularly monitor fuel prices throughout a local area to ensure we’re providing competitive prices for our customers.”

There is an even more significant gap between prices at local BP garages, with the Calcot service station selling at 155.9p – 16p less than Newbury’s London Road garage, which sells at 171.9p per litre.

Jeff Salt, a 56-year-old barman at Newbury and Crookham Golf Club, has been frustrated by the high fuel prices in the Newbury area.

He said: “The prices are so high because people will pay them.

“Because no one is willing to complain, they will just get away with it.

“I think Newbury people have been ripped off for years, and they think they can get away with it.

"It’s about time somebody stood up to them.”

Mr Salt spoke to a manager at Tesco and asked why the prices were more expensive when compared to other areas. She said he was the first person to complain, something Mr Salt said he found hard to believe.

He also complained to Sainsbury’s, but said while he was talking to a manager, he said security was called.

He added: “I don’t know why it’s so much higher here.

“Transport costs can’t come into it because people would have to travel further with their fuel into Wantage and Reading coming up from Southampton. Rateable value is going to be a lot less in Newbury than in Reading.”

Mr Salt isn’t hopeful that the situation will change anytime soon.

He said: “Frankly I don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel.”

He claimed that if a new supermarket chain was introduced into Newbury, the local fuel market would shift.

“If Morrison’s or Asda get a foothold in Newbury, you’d watch the prices drop,” he said.