ARE Andover drivers getting a bad deal?

On January 16 you posed the above question in respect of fuel prices.

The answer is a certain yes.

This has been the case for several years.

Tesco does sell the cheapest fuel in town, unless you visit the filling station in Charlton on the right day or even the right time of the right day.

London Street is always significantly more expensive, so much so that I wonder why anybody ever goes there.

I hardly ever venture to the west of the town for fuel so don’t know about the Shell station in Weyhill Road.

Esso Romsey is always cheaper and you still get Tesco Clubcard points. The filling station on the way into Salisbury (BP and Marks & Spencer) is also always cheaper.

There are always going to be price differences between different suppliers. That is called competition.

However, Tesco’s price is always 2p or so more per litre than they charge in other towns. For example: today (January 17) Tesco Extra Andover is 107.9p for standard unleaded. Tesco North Eastleigh (a traditional filling station with convenience store, now Tesco) is 104.9.

Tesco do, occasionally, run special offers on fuel in conjunction with general shopping spend, which is valuable, but Andoverians still pay the Andover premium as the offers are national not local campaigns.

Ironically, a while ago, Sainsbury’s ran a similar offer for money off fuel, but it would have meant shopping in Andover then driving to Newbury to claim the saving: not the best thought out campaign.

Stewart Brown, Goodworth Clatford