Borderers are being charged nearly 20% more for their petrol compared to motorists in neighbouring council areas, new analysis shows.
The discrepancy has led to calls by local MP John Lamont for national petrol stations to end their fuel price rip off.
The cheapest price for petrol in the Borders is currently 116.7p per litre, but up to 124.9p in Duns, whereas the cheapest price in Midlothian is 105.9p. Many retailers are charging more in the Borders than you would be paying in more remote parts of the west coast of Scotland.
In Oban, for example, motorists can fill up their car for 118.9p per litre at an independent petrol station and in Fort William, for example, motorists can fill up their car for 116.9p per litre at Morrisons.
The price even varies significantly between the same petrol station.
Sainsburys in Kelso is currently charging 122.9p per litre of petrol, whereas only 40 miles away in Straiton near Edinburgh, petrol costs 105.9p per litre.
Jet in Duns is currently charging 124.9p per litre, while Jet in Earlston petrol costs 121.9p per litre. Just a few miles up the road, in Tranent, petrol is selling for 117.9p per litre.
Local MP John Lamont is now calling on petrol stations to review their prices in the Borders and has written to all stations to demand a fairer fuel pricing structure.
John Lamont MP said: “By charging nearly 20% more than petrol stations just up the road, motorists in the Borders are clearly being taken for a ride.
“There is no excuse for this. Distribution does not make up a significant fraction of the cost of petrol and other factors, like taxation and the price of crude oil are of course the same across the UK.
“The Borders is hardly a remote region being only 30 or 40 miles away from the central belt, yet many Borderers are paying more for their petrol than motorists in the Highlands.
“Big retailers like Sainsbury’s manage to sell potatoes for the same price in Kelso as they do in the central belt, so why are customers being charged nearly 20% more for their petrol?
“I’ve written to all fuel providers in the Borders about this, urging them to end this rip off.”
Fuel prices were checked on Friday 23rd February at: https://www.petrolprices.com/