A WINSFORD petrol station's owner has hit back at the MP for Mid Cheshire over criticism of its pump prices in the context of the conflict in the Middle East.
Andrew Cooper had hit out at Kay Group-owned BP in Winsford and EG Group-owned Shell in Middlewich last week in a speech in the House of Commons.
At the time the MP said the petrol stations on Bostock Road, Winsford, and on Holmes Chapel Road, Middlewich, were 10p to 15p per litre more expensive than the constituency's cheapest respectively.
In open letters to Richard Cox of Blackburn-based Kay Group and Javed Patel of Bolton-based EG Group and in a post on social media Mr Cooper asked for 'a clear explanation of their current pricing'.
He said: "At BP in Winsford unleaded is 10p more per litre and at Shell in Middlewich it is 15p more per litre. Does the Competition and Markets Authority have the powers to clamp down on this unscrupulous behaviour?"
Mr Cox, the managing director of Kay Group, answered the politician in a first letter one day after his speech and in a second letter two days after his speech.
In the first letter he said their wholesale costs were up 20p per litre on petrol and 45p per litre on diesel between the beginning of March and the end of March.
He suggested the money made by the garage on a per litre basis was a lot less than the money made by the government on a per litre basis because of taxation.
In the second letter he said he was 'concerned that the publication has contributed to adverse public reaction' towards the petrol station and petrol station staff.
Mr Cox said: "For this month to date [BP in Winsford] has traded across all grades at a margin of less than 2.5p per litre. [This is] an unsustainable position in the long term and far far from profiteering."
Mr Cox added: "I ask that you retract your statements in your social media post and the related question in the House of Commons."
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