{"id":329679,"date":"2026-03-14T17:49:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T17:49:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/329679\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T17:49:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T17:49:07","slug":"daylight-robbery-m1-drivers-boggle-at-the-rising-price-of-fuel-petrol-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/329679\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Daylight robbery\u2019: M1 drivers boggle at the rising price of fuel | Petrol prices"},"content":{"rendered":"

Opened in 1968, Woodall services on the M1 near Sheffield<\/a> is Yorkshire\u2019s oldest roadside service station. This weekend, it was also one of the country\u2019s most expensive pit stops, with diesel priced at 185.9p a litre and petrol at 172.9p.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you really want to know what I think? You probably couldn\u2019t print it,\u201d said biker Alan Harrison, who had stopped for a coffee break in the sunshine while heading from Leeds to Bournemouth.<\/p>\n

Alan Harrison stopping off on his way to Bournemouth. Photograph: Joel Goodman\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s daylight robbery. People are going to start seriously thinking about how often they use their car if it carries on like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fuel prices have risen at their fastest rate since 2022, reaching their highest level in 18 months on Friday, since the US and Israel began airstrikes on Iran almost two weeks ago.<\/p>\n

The surge in global oil market prices has caused petrol prices to increase by an average of 7.8p to 140.6p a litre, while diesel has risen by 16.8p to 159.18p.<\/p>\n

Kevin Grieve had filled up in South Shields before setting off on a journey with his family to take part in a medieval reenactment event in Coventry.<\/p>\n

Kevin Grieve on the way to a medieval re-enactment event with family and friends. Photograph: Joel Goodman\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

\u201cI paid 171p, which is probably 20p more than it was a week ago. It\u2019s ridiculous but I can see it going higher if the war continues for any length of time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had this trip planned for a while but I\u2019m probably going to have to stop again for petrol on the way back. I\u2019ll go off the motorway and look for somewhere cheaper.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roger Thorpe, a wine retailer from York, was driving to Northampton to visit his parents. \u201cI\u2019m lucky to be able to walk to where I work. York is also very compact and great for cycling.<\/p>\n

Roger Thorpe, on his way to Northampton to visit his parents. Photograph: Joel Goodman\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only time I really drive is long distance like this and with the way things are with the prices going up like this, it does pay to shop around. I live close to a Morrisons and petrol is still pretty cheap there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Football fan Shannon Higgott was en route from Hartlepool to London with her nephews Taylor and Mason to watch Newcastle take on Chelsea.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could have gone by train but it\u2019s so expensive so I decided to drive. I\u2019ve been keeping an eye on the petrol prices because you have to factor them in. It\u2019s getting to the point where I won\u2019t be doing so many away games like this.<\/p>\n

Shannon Higgott (centre) with Taylor Higgott (left) and Mason Higgott (right) at the Wooall services branch of KFC. Photograph: Joel Goodman\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

\u201cI put a full tank in for 133p yesterday because I knew I was going to be on the M1 today. I think some of the prices are a ripoff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lorry driver Sujinder Singh said he was bracing himself for more price rises at the pumps. \u201cI own my lorry so I\u2019m very conscious of the cost. The last two weeks have been a bit crazy. It\u2019s definitely not good for business,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Lorry driver Sujinder Singh stopping off as he heads home to Birmingham. Photograph: Joel Goodman\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

At an EV charging point, Keith Bradley and his wife, Pauline, were about to depart for a fitness event in Nottingham.<\/p>\n

Keith said: \u201cWe swapped to EV two years ago and, apart from some issues with getting a smart meter, it\u2019s the best thing we\u2019ve ever done.<\/p>\n

Keith and Pauline Bradley charging their electric car. Photograph: Joel Goodman\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

\u201cEV prices have gone up recently but nowhere near petrol and diesel. We\u2019ve been lucky because I think some places have jumped at this to make a quick, easy profit on the back of the poor old motorist.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Hooper, managing director of the Hull and Humber chamber of commerce, has called on petrol retailers to stop profiteering from the crisis in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cIt makes me really cross to see petrol and diesel retailers hiking fuel prices at the first excuse they get.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fuel they have already bought and is sitting in tanks under their forecourts is bought weeks in advance and hasn\u2019t gone up so they are simply ripping off motorists.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorse than that, they are adding to costs to hard-pressed businesses. Everything gets delivered to shops by trucks. If you increase their costs by raising fuel prices, those higher costs will quickly be passed on to the consumer which then drives up interest and inflation rates.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Woodall services operator Welcome Break said: \u201cFuel pricing at Welcome Break is set consistently across all our motorway service areas and we review it regularly to ensure it reflects the wider motorway market and rising fuel costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recognise that field prices remain high across the industry and understand the impact this has on our customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur aim is to keep our prices as competitive as possible within the motorway network while continuing to provide reliable and convenient services for motorists and we will continue to monitor market conditions closely.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trade body for the UK\u2019s petrol station industry has got into a row with the government after claiming the \u201cinflammatory language\u201d used by ministers<\/a> to describe rising pump prices may have incited abuse against forecourt staff.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) also accused ministers of suggesting that forecourts might be \u201cprice gouging\u201d and \u201cripping off\u201d motorists amid the chaos in global oil markets.<\/p>\n

The group initially pulled out of a planned meeting with the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to discuss the rocketing price of fuel, but did later join the event at 11 Downing Street on Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Opened in 1968, Woodall services on the M1 near Sheffield is Yorkshire\u2019s oldest roadside service station. This weekend,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329680,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[138,219,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-329679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}