Wirral petrol stations manage panic-buying with spending cap

Large queues could be found at petrol stations all over the borough in the past few days, as news of a shortage of HGV drivers prompted motorists to fill-up in earnest.

The Globe visited four different locations across Bromborough and Eastham today and found price caps currently in place at two of them, including BP on the A41.

A £30 limit is also in place at the BP garage on the A41/New Chester Road

A member of staff said: "The £30 limit has been in place since the weekend, except for ambulances and fire engines. This is their local refuelling station.

"Some truck drivers have moaned about the limits, but we are trying to assist them as best as we can when the levels allow.

"We hope to remove the limits when our next fuel tanker comes. We've been really busy everyday up until today. It's dropped off a little bit now."

A £30 limit has also been imposed at ASDA on the Croft Retail Park, with plenty of vehicles making stops this afternoon.

The RAC said average prices may hit 143p per litre for petrol and 145p per litre for diesel in the next few weeks.

That is up from the current level of 135p per litre for petrol and 138p per litre for diesel.

The highest average price for petrol is 142p per litre, which was recorded in April 2012.

Texaco in Bromborough currently has no spending cap but the highest prices in the local area

But when the Globe visited the Texaco garage on the corner of Allport Road, it found the price of Unleaded to be 143.9p per litre and Diesel at 145.9p.

No spending limits appeared to in place but a number of unleaded pumps were marked as empty.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “The price drivers can expect to pay at the pumps in the coming weeks is being driven by what’s happening with the cost of oil, not by the recent delivery issues that have affected some UK forecourts.

“While the oil price has softened slightly, it’s still very near the 80 US dollars a barrel mark and therefore a three-year high.

“We’re monitoring the situation closely but with some analysts predicting the price could hit 90 US dollars before the end of the year as demand for oil surges as we come through the pandemic, there is a risk we could see the average price of unleaded fuel hit a new record of around 143p per litre.

“Diesel would go to 145p which is just shy of the record high of 147.93 in April 2021.”

A coach fills up without restriction at Shell on the New Chester Road in Eastham

The Shell garage on New Chester Road in Eastham does not currently have any spending restrictions in place and did not have any queues when visited today.

Despite appearing to have run short on Fuelsave Diesel, a member of staff insisted that it had been business as usual for the petrol station, with minimal disruption.