Petrol prices on the increase

Local, Carrie Newman, is considering other travel options.

By Rebecca Needham.


STOCKSBRIDGE drivers have been hit hard after petrol prices hit £6 a gallon for the first time.

AA President Edmund King said the government are facing increasing pressure to ease the growing fuel price burden on the economy and that rural areas are one of the most vulnerable groups struggling to stay on the road.

Stocksbridge Filling Station's prices have risen to 6.93p a litre since the start of the year - 1.68p a litre in the past week.

Steve Wise of Paterson Gardens said: "We're really starting to notice the price rise. My household has two petrol cars and we've gone from spending around £240 a month, to now paying £280.

A year ago, a litre of petrol on average cost 114.30p a litre and diesel was 115.31p. New figures show unleaded at 132.12p a litre while the average diesel cost has also hit a new record at 137.92p. Part of that increase is due to rising fuel duty and VAT.

Young Stocksbridge local, Carrie Newman said: "It's really becoming a problem now; I work in Manchester so I'm constantly driving in and out of Stocksbridge. It's getting to the point where I'm actually considering other travel options."

As a rural area of Sheffield, businesses have also been badly affected. Stocksbridge taxi worker, Imran Khan said: "We've definitely noticed the rise, as a result, our prices have raised and customers aren't happy."

The rise comes just weeks after a number of Sheffield MP's reportedly ignored requests to back a UK fuel campaign.