A POOLE petrol station is now one of the most expensive places to fill up in the UK.
The BP garage in Longfleet Road, the only filling station in the town centre, charges a massive 119.9p per litre for unleaded - 8p above the national average.
This rise comes amid reports of thieves siphoning petrol from private cars across Bournemouth in a bid to beat spiralling fuel costs.
Average UK prices have continued to rise after the £5 per gallon mark was breached earlier this month. On Wednesday the UK unleaded average was 111.94p per litre and 123.13p per litre for diesel.
Steve Turpin, regional manager of the independent Malthurst Group, the multi-million pound company operating the Longfleet Road garage, said: "We set our prices in line with the national picture and prices are rocketing nationally day-by-day."
Soaring world oil prices and the recent industrial activity at Grangemouth oil refinery have further driven up the costs of petrol during the past fortnight.
But a litre of unleaded at Wimborne Road's Texaco station, Poole, cost 112.9p per litre, and at Fleetsbridge Tesco Extra it is a full 10p cheaper than Longfleet Road, at 109.9p per litre.
AA spokesman Luke Bosdet said the Longfleet Road price was "high, but not the highest" in the UK. Motorists pay more in parts of London and at motorway service stations.
But he added: "Prices like Poole are usually found at stations on industrial sites or attached to car dealerships - where they don't have the need to attract people in by setting prices low."
Driver Paul Smith, 27, of Boscombe, said: "To be honest I don't really look at the prices anymore. It is just so depressing."
Businessman Ross Charnock, 37, of Poole, said the garage's proximity to Poole Hospital could be why people still flocked to the pumps.
He added: "I really think, despite all the media coverage, people are just getting used to the high prices now. I guess it is a sign of the times."
Meanwhile, Maggie Taylor, 42, of Dorset, said: "A couple of pence extra per litre barely adds up to a £1 a tank extra. It may cost you this much driving around looking for a cheaper option.
"I think the government's tax on fuel is the problem - they could be helping people out, but they just don't seem to care."
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