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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Matt Gibson

Half mile long queues at 'UK's cheapest petrol station' as motorists hunt for a bargain

Tailbacks stretching half a mile formed on the approach to a petrol station labelled the "UK's cheapest" by the RAC.

Motorists have been clamouring to fill up at the Shell garage at Trago Mills in Newton Abbot, Devon, where unleaded petrol is on sale at 164.9p a litre.

The price is more than 25p per litre cheaper than the national average of 190.65p, according to RAC fuel watch. Diesel was being sold at the garage on Friday for 181.9p compared to a national average of 198.42p.

It means motorists can save £10 every time they fill up an average 55 litre fuel tank.

Motorists queue up for a slice of what is being called the cheapest fuel in the country (SWNS)

The long driveway approaching the petrol station from the A382 at Stover has been backed up with drivers heading off the busy A38 and coming from all over over South Devon.

Dramatic aerial images showed the extent of the queues on Friday, which was the last day of school term before the summer holidays start for much of the country.

Trago Mills is using the cheap fuel to bring traffic off the A38 to their 'Family Fun Park', which features a steam railway and children's rides.

Speaking to Devon Live, Trago's boss Bruce Robertson said: "Oh God! We are in danger of making ourselves unpopular. I gather there is a queue down the whole length of the long road in - as far back as the A382 - it's backed up about half-a-mile to Stover."

He continued: "We are just doing what we think is right for our customers. The wholesale prices of road spirits (whether petrol or diesel) has been falling rapidly since last Tuesday, which trickled through to retailers fairly quickly - but everybody has just sat on it.

"But we don't play games. If a few more retailers followed suit the price at the pump would come down.

A security guard controls a queue of motorists at the garage where unleaded petrol was being sold for 164.9p a litre on Friday (SWNS)

"We work on a pretty static margin. If import prices come down we pass that straight on to Trago customers.

"The whole issue of all fuel costs is at crisis point and the Government has been very, very slow to respond.

"On fuel - it’s very simple. It’s a falling market and we don’t mess with our margins, we simply on-cost what we require to run our business.

"Do I have sympathy with competitors whose approach may differ? Yes, a little, as there is a huge systemic problem that is damaging the economy."

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