Morrisons cuts petrol price by 4p in Hartlepool after pressure from Labour parliamentary candidate

Morrisons has slashed the cost of its unleaded petrol from 142.7p a litre on Monday, June 26, to 138.7p at its forecourts in Clarence Road and Belle Vue Way – making it the cheapest in Hartlepool.

It follows a meeting between Jonathan Brash and Morrisons’ head of fuel.

Hartlepool borough councillor Brash recently called on Morrisons, Tesco and Asda to end Hartlepool’s “petrol premium” by bringing the cost of fuel in line what they charge elsewhere on Teesside, where it is up to six pence a litre cheaper.

He said he was delighted that following his meeting with Morrisons that the supermarket agreed to cut its price by 4p a litre in an attempt to “reset the market” in Hartlepool.

Asda and Tesco have not yet followed Morrisons’ lead, according to prices provided by website petrolprices.com, with Asda charging 142.7 and Tesco 142.9 on Tuesday morning.

Cllr Brash said: “This is a massive first step to ending the Hartlepool petrol premium and I pay tribute to Morrisons for stepping up and doing the right thing.

"Now the onus must be on the other retailers to do the same and until they do I would urge everyone in Hartlepool to make the smart choice as to where you get your fuel – vote with your feet and force the other retailers to follow suit.”

Morrisons previously said it operated a local fuel pricing policy meaning differences would arise between towns.

It said the number and breadth of operators in the market all with different buying models and overheads, creates variations in price between operators and local markets.

Cllr Brash said there was still more work to be done and has gathered hundreds of names on an online petition.

He said: “I want to thank every single person who signed the petition and put pressure on the retailers to act.

"This is a big first step, but there is more to do and I would encourage everyone in Hartlepool to add their name so that we can keep this fight going and force all the retailers to drop their prices and keep them there.”

Morrisons confirmed it had met Cllr Brash but declined to comment further.