Supermarket bosses have been told stop “ripping off” motorists in the north and north-east amid growing anger at fuel price “disparities”.
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine MP Andrew Bowie has written to the retail giants urging them to address the “fuel price lottery”.
The Scottish Conservative took action after the Press and Journal reported on the varying costs at petrol pumps within the regions earlier this month.
Just 20 miles separates Tesco’s Danestone site in Aberdeen, where it costs 117p per litre for petrol and 121p for diesel, from its Banchory shop, where it costs 129.9p and 132.9p respectively.
Meanwhile, the 30 miles between Asda’s Middleton Park shop in Bridge of Don and its Peterhead store add up to a 10p disparity.
And Morrisons on Aberdeen’s King Street is offering fuel at 8-9p cheaper than its station in Inverurie, some 16 miles away.
Last night, Mr Bowie said: “Drivers around the north-east are paying very different sums at supermarket pumps – sometimes relatively short distances apart.
“It is not right that you can fill up at one end of my constituency for two or three pence less a litre than at the other end. Yet prices vary significantly between Stonehaven and Banchory.
“There are even disparities in the price at pumps owned by the same supermarket.”
He added: “This is a problem across the UK, but even within Aberdeenshire, drivers face a fuel price lottery.
“For motorists, it will be difficult to escape the feeling that they are being ripped off.”
Tesco has said that it gives its Clubcard customers a discount on fuel and also had regular offers for shoppers.
A spokesman said: “We know that low fuel prices are important to our customers so, like most major fuel retailers, we have a local pricing policy to provide great value to shoppers in Aberdeenshire.”
An Asda spokesman said: “We have a national price cap for fuel, so our customers will always pay the lowest price for petrol in their local area.
“We do sometimes dip under this price cap to remain competitive with other local stores and we continuously monitor our prices to ensure customers are getting the best possible deal.”
Morrisons said it also based its prices on the average costs of fuel in a geographical area.
