Panic-buying put brake on fuel sales fall

Panic buying at the pumps earlier this year brought the UK’s long-term fall in petrol sales to a halt, figures show.
By The Newsroom
Published 2nd Jul 2012, 07:00 BST

But prices were so high that drivers cut back on consumption and this limited the long-awaited rise in sales, according to figures highlighted by the AA.

In the end the short-term rush for fuel added only three days’ extra volume to petrol and diesel sales between January and March this year, the AA said.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

According to figures released by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, UK petrol consumption between January and March this year rose by 2.85 per cent compared with the same period in 2011. But this January-March 2012 figure was down 16.64 per cent compared with the pre-recession January-March 2008 total.

Diesel sales rose 7.87 per cent in the first three months of this year compared with the same period last year.