Scottish motorists have reacted furiously after fuel headed to £2 a litre.
Forecourts across Scotland began racking up board prices of 199.9p for a litre of diesel, with fears the number will keep rising amid the Ukraine crisis.
Outraged drivers have called for bans on some garages found to be selling Shell and BP fuel for more than 30p more than supermarkets. Some motorists have abused forecourt staff, who have no say over pricing.
But one smaller supplier, with ten petrol stations in Scotland, has claimed that he needs to sell for that sky high prices to break even.
Employees of Chelvatheebam Chelvam, boss of Grove Retail Ltd, have been getting daily abuse as prices at pumps have shot up by 10p a day, leading to accusations of profiteering.
But Chelvam claims he is merely trying to keep his business afloat. He called for government action to reduce the burden, including a reduction in the 20 per cent rate of VAT.
He said: “The price on the sign does not look good but it is out of my hands.
“I am buying fuel on a daily rate and that has been going up so much recently. I am aware that my managers are being accused of profiteering and this is very difficult for me and for them but what can I do?
“For every litre of fuel I sell right now I lose money, when I take account of my overheads.
“Some garages are on weekly rates and others have locked in longer term prices, which would have shielded them from what is happening to my business right now.
“But all I can say is that people will have to accept the reality that prices everywhere will be going up fast. There is no other way to stay afloat unless the price of oil comes down.”
He added: “The government has to step in with some solution to this or there will be very tough times for anyone who drives a car. Reducing VAT would be a good start.”
Chelvam has garages in places like Larkhall, Broxburn, Beith, Methil, East Kilbride, Airdrie and Saltcoats.
He said his daily rate for buying fuel on Wednesday was 159p plus VAT.
This would take the cost to him up to £1.90, on top of which another 3p is added by suppliers like Shell and BP.
He said: “How can anyone make a profit from this? If I sold the diesel at £1.60 I’d be losing 40p a litre and that would simply be a disaster for my business.”
Social media was ablaze with criticism for the 199p-per-litre diesel - which is 20p more than unleaded petrol. Some customers in Larkhall, Lanarkshire, were up in arms.
Mark Easton called for a boycott of the local garage.
He said: “Dick Turpin is alive and well. I’d rather walk to the bus stop than give these (franchise) a******** a penny. Don’t even buy a packet of mints from here people. Time to drive them outta town.”
Ann-Marie Taylor wrote: “Wait for the strikes to follow...then the price hikes in everything. All food, anyth8ng you buy in shops, public transport, amazon deliveries, postal service, taxi’s. Cost of everything is driven by price of fuel, when it goes up, so does everything else.”
Margaret Cameron added: “Daylight robbery! I was astounded at the price when I passed a couple of days ago, now this photo shows another huge increase! Won’t be going there for my petrol!”
James Gray added: “It’s ridiculous and the government gets 32p a litre. So 20% vat on petrol and petrol tax - its all one big rip off even before Shell cash in.”
Motorist Alan Gordon said the cost of diesel had risen by 10p a day for three days in a row.
He said: “This just doesn’t seem right to me and I would think right now, with the cost of living crisis upon us, would be the worst time to bring in any fuel price profiteering.”
Data from the RAC yesterday showed it costs an average of £87 to fill a 55-litre family car with unleaded - £7 more than at the start of the year.
The motoring body claims diesel drivers are even worse off with a tank now costing more than £90 for the first time ever - £8 more than in January. Petrol prices across the board jumped by up to 3p a litre in just 24 hours with diesel leaping from an average 162.28p a litre on Monday to 165.24p on Tuesday.
Unleaded crept up from an average of 156.37p to 158.2p over the same period. On Monday oil hit a 14 year high of $139 a barrel but had slipped to $130 yesterday morning (Wed).
The Republic of Ireland government announced a tax reduction yesterday.
The RAC is calling in Chancellor Rishi Sunak to cut VAT and ease the squeeze on drivers as prices are set to rise even further by the end of the week.
BP and Shell were asked for comment on daily pricing and prospects for future costs at the pumps.
