RURAL garage owners have echoed calls for the government to put a stop to unfair pricing by the major petrol companies.

Last week the D&S Times reported that independent fuel companies had begun a protest campaign by filling their road tankers at petrol stations owned by the major suppliers.

They say they are unable to supply rural filling stations at competitive prices because refineries are charging them more for petrol than the price on their own forecourts.

Mr Dick Lawson, who owns a combined petrol station and garden machinery centre at High Coniscliffe, said he and other smaller independent garages were being forced out of business by the petrol giants. He added: "Last week it was cheaper for us to buy petrol at the local Esso and BP sites in Darlington than we could buy from our usual wholesale supplier.

"Some months ago I did a costing, and our total gross profit on our petrol sales would only pay half the wages of the young lady who looks after our petrol sales kiosk. Now we have a situation that has reduced our sales to below half of what they were at that time."

Mr Lawson said the only reason the company had not closed down the petrol side of its business was because of loyalty to its many regular and long-standing rural customers.

He warned: "We are being forced out of petrol retailing alongside many other rural businesses. It is time the government took action against the major petrol retailers."

Mr Lawson's views were echoed this week by Mr John Brayshaw, who runs the Dale Head garage at Hawes with his wife, Shirley.

The cost of keeping urban pump prices low was being passed on to rural customers, who paid between 5p and 9p a litre more than their urban counterparts, he said.

"The oil majors and supermarkets are selling diesel at 82p or 83.9p per litre whereas I am paying 86.6p per litre," he added. The bigger companies could afford to underwrite retail losses but smaller garages could not.

"It is very unfair on our loyal customers who, if we closed, would have to travel miles for fuel," he said.

"Catterick Garrison, 20 miles away, has our nearest supermarket with petrol and some of our customers already come from ten miles away because we are their nearest garage."

The price difference had already contributed towards the poorest business year since the Brayshaws took over the garage 11 years ago.

"I would say we are 15-20pc down on last year and it is our loyal account customers who are keeping us going," said Mr Brayshaw.

The Brayshaws have written to Tory leader and local MP, Mr William Hague, who said he appreciated the problem and would raise it when parliament re-opened next week.

l Mr Hague launched the Conservative party's latest fuel action day at the WCF petrol station, Catterick Village, on Saturday, when he filled up a Ford Mondeo and supported activists collecting signatures demanding lower petrol taxes.

He said: "The price of fuel is astronomical and the main cause is the high level of tax imposed by Labour."