Drivers are being warned that petrol prices could still rise at Morrisons supermarkets, despite the 5p fuel tax.
This is due to Morrisons being taken over by private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier and Rice (CD&R), with a huge £7 billion deal potentially having a knock-on effect on the price of petrol.
The UK competition regulator has warned that petrol prices could rise across 100 Morrisons forecourts soon due to the merger.
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Back in January, the Competition and Markets Authority launched an investigation and have now said that they could launch a second, deeper investigation if Morrisons and CD&R fail to address the concerns regarding rising petrol prices, the Manchester Evening News reports.
The Competition and Markets Authority has expressed concerns that there will be "limited competition" in the 121 local areas where both MFG and Morrisons have forecourts.
This would mean that other players would not likely be competing with the companies once the merger is complete, resulting in to an "increase in prices", the authority have warned.
This comes as fuel costs have been hitting drivers hard over the last few weeks and the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a 5p reduction in fuel duty.
CD&R, which bought Morrisons back in October, also owns petrol station giant Motor Fuel Group (MFG) which has a whopping 921 petrol stations across England, Scotland and Wales. Morrisons also operates hundreds of forecourts, with 339 stations to its name.
The prices for petrol and diesel have recently hit "record highs", said Colin Raftery, senior director of mergers at the Competition and Markets Authority."
He added: "[This] makes it even more important that we don’t allow a lack of competition at the pump to make the situation worse.
"We’re concerned that this deal could lead to higher prices for motorists in some parts of the country. But if CD&R and Morrisons are able to address these concerns, then we won’t need to move on to an in-depth investigation of the merger."
