Worcester fuel station sees fall in sales as motorists cut back

The owner of the service station, Leza Stephenson, said she could do "very little" to stop fuel prices increasing

A family-run service station says its fuel sales have fallen because motorists cannot afford rising prices.

Tolladine Service Station in Worcester said it was also struggling to compete with other providers, which had a knock-on effect on sales in the shop.

Fuel price rises in August were among the biggest in more than two decades, according to the RAC.

The service station's owner, Leza Stephenson, said she could do "very little" to stop the increase in costs.

"It just keeps going up for no reason," she said.

"The margin is very little, you're lucky to be making two or three pence a litre."

The RAC said fuel retailers were not increasing the profit they were making despite the hikes.

"August was a big shock to drivers as they had grown used to seeing far lower prices than last summer's record highs," said the RAC's fuel spokesman Simon Williams.

Ms Stephenson said the price of fuel was unknown until the day it was delivered, which was "frightening".

"It's very difficult to compete with supermarkets... we've gone up about three pence from Friday to Monday," she said.

"The shop sales are down because people are not coming through the door," she added.