West Dorset MP Chris Loder has urged local people to ‘think twice’ before getting fuel from Morrisons and other supermarkets because of the risk of being ‘ripped off’.
The MP has implored the Morrisons Head of Fuel to overhaul their current pricing policies which he says are unfairly discriminating against rural people throughout West Dorset and further afield. At a meeting last week with Morrisons, Mr Loder expressed first hand his intention to meet with the Competitions and Markets Authority to further hold supermarket fuel stations to task on their pricing strategy. Mr Loder also invited Morrisons to meet with him and the Prime Minister.
Mr Loder hosted a call with Bridport Business Chamber and Bridport Town Council, following considerable feedback to the MP about the local fuel price being up to 20p higher in Bridport than in neighbouring towns such as Weymouth and Yeovil. This culminated in Mr Loder’s intervention in the House of Commons during Prime Minister’s Questions.
The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak responded to Mr Loder by stating that he has called for a review into the fuel industry by the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) and will be meeting him to discuss this issue.
Mr Loder continued: “I strongly welcome this review and intend to meet with the CMA shortly to discuss this. Supermarket chains have behaved appallingly towards rural people and suppliers alike. I am pleased to be making progress on this and hope to see a progressive decrease in local fuel prices from Morrisons’.
