Streetlife

could it be down to the fact that there are fewer petrol stations in Stowmarket, so there isn't as much competion than the larger towns?

I don't see why that should make a difference.  Petrol should be the same price where ever you live right across the country.  That should not make a difference in my opinion.  We still pay the same car tax and car insurance, so why should petrol prices by any different?

I used to work for a fuel company and it's all to do with how much fuel is delivered (more is cheaper) and transport costs so depends on how far/where the tanker has to travel.

A taxi charges a different price depending on where it has to go.

I accept what your saying but even some rural garages are charging less then £1.33 per litre.  It is an uncontrolled issue nationwide.

For rural garages the norm is they get charged more as they don't sell enough fuel to get the bulk price so some little petrol stations are charging a heck of a lot more (I have seen 15 to 20 ppl more than town prices) the more rural they are, a lot shut down/stop selling petrol as they don't make any money on fuel anymore - sad, so people have to travel into town or a superstore to fuel up. The amount of duty the government want is also is a huge factor.

Yes the current and former governments have got a lot to answer for as far as fuel prices.

Tesco really annoy me over petrol prices. They could be taking the lead in Stowmarket and giving us the same price as in Ipswich. I would imagine their in store prices for other goods are the same in all their supermarkets. Then they wonder why people oppose them.

The price differences are even worse heading down the A12 from Ipswich to Colchester.

Fortunately we live in a free market society where the price of most commodities are based on supply and demand (albeit heavily skewed by taxation).  Having the price of petrol set either by a cartel, or worse government, doesn't seem attractive does it?
If people are anxious to get the cheapest price, then it's simple enough to shop around or simply go on the comparison sites such as petrolprices.com.

Thanks for all the comments.  It's been really interesting getting people's views.

The reason that petrol is cheaper in some towns and not others is all based on whether there is an Asda selling petrol there or not! Unfortunately we haven't in Stwmkt so we are at a disadvantage. If Morrisons gets permission for a petrol station here that'll bring the price down, you wait and see !

I dont fill up in Stow any more.  I might put a tenner in now and again but usually I fill up on a Monday afternoon after work at Ipswich ASDA as I pass it every day, and it is always cheaper than any of the stations in Stow.

I always fill up at Morrisons in Ipswich on my weekly trip to pick up my Granddaughters from school. It is usually the same price as Asda but when you have purchased so many litres you get a £5 voucher to spend in the store.