Motorists are ripped off by oil firms and the Government

May 12 2008 by Our Correspondent, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

I WAS rummaging through some old documents the other day when I stumbled on a fuel receipt from May 1994.

At that time I bought 33.52 litres of diesel for which Midlothian Garage charged me £17.06. The same today would cost over £40.

The Chancellor must be rubbing his hands at the amount of tax the current fuel prices are generating. The recently published three-month profit figures of the major oil companies are obscene.

People like myself who use their private vehicles for business are compensated by being allowed to claim 40p for the first 10,000 business miles and 25p thereafter. The cost of fuel has almost doubled since these figures were set but is the Government thinking of increasing the allowance? I am informed in a reply from Kali Mountford that they are not.

But this comes as no surprise in Britain where the motorist is fair game for any rip-off merchants.

I think it is high time that we employed French tactics and had some civil unrest. Perhaps then the government might listen to the general public.

Tim Radcliffe

Huddersfield