A PETROL price war has been declared by Haslemere Town Council aimed at BP and Euro Garages, which charge residents as much as 7p more per litre to fill up than the national average.

The town’s Tory MP Jeremy Hunt was copied into the council’s original protest letter on January 20, when it took up the cudgels against the higher prices charged by Euro Garages, which operates the Esso service station in Wey Hill, and BP, which operates the Portsmouth Road service station, in Hindhead.

The move followed a full council meeting a day earlier, when councillors unanimously backed a proposal to take action regarding the steep fuel prices charged in Haslemere compared to neighbouring areas.

They heard the national average for unleaded on January 19 was £119.50 per litre, with a local average of £121.99 on a 10-mile radius outside the town.

“Your price was £126.99,” the council objected in its letter to both companies. “Your pricing is now consistently higher than the two small independent filling stations, whereas two years ago you were 2p per litre cheaper.

“The Chamber of Trade shares the town council’s concern and feels any such detrimental pricing does nothing for local business and potentially pushes shoppers to neighbouring towns. We are aware of a large amount of concern being expressed by residents. I would be grateful if you could explain the apparent discrepancy in fuel pricing in the area.”

When both BP and Euro Garages justified the prices charged and showed no signs of budging, the town council pleded to renew its attack.

A BP spokesman said: “BP’s pricing policy is based on a premium offer while maintaining value for money for consumers within each local trading area reflecting the location of the site, its facilities and the competition.

“This means the fuel prices can vary from site to site. We monitor daily, prices on a site by site basis and we always try to maintain value for money for our customers as much as possible.”

Responding for Euro Garages, commercial director Ilyas Munshi wrote: “There may be smaller independent forecourt operators in the surrounding area who are potentially cheaper but they do not have similar retail overheads profile or they lack the commercial demands on the capital they have employed when compared against Euro Garages.

“The other point to note is the branded fuel product being purchased is better and slightly more expensive to source than supermarket fuel.

“When you compare to a similar operator to Euro Garages, for example BP, we are actually cheaper on the unleaded and the matching price on diesel.”

This week, the town council was back on the war path, saying: “Unfortunately the responses we have received are unacceptable and do not adequately answer this apparent anomaly.

“The current situation in town is that both companies appear to be mirroring each other. This means residents and businesses could pay up to £100 per year more for fuel than if they lived in Godalming, Liphook, or Farnham and that potentially residents will go to fill up and shop elsewhere, taking much needed revenue out of the local economy.

“We will be writing again to both companies, pointing out this fact, and demanding some improvements in their pricing structure before we decide what further action to take, potentially an online petition.

“In the meantime, any resident who wishes to support the council’s efforts can email [email protected] or call (01428) 658828.”