Guernsey Press

Tax hike is forcing us to end fuel sales

PETROL sales at Lucksall Motors are a thing of the past.

Published

PETROL sales at Lucksall Motors are a thing of the past. The L'Ancresse garage has served its last litre of fuel.

Lucksall Motors and Barras Car Centre general manager Paul Guilmoto said it was a decision the company had been mulling over for the past few months. He cited rising fuel costs as the deciding factor.

'We've had to close the pumps, it's no longer profitable. The margin is dwindling all the time.

'There's a perception that garages make thousands from petrol but that's not the case,' he said yesterday.

Proposals by Treasury minister Lyndon Trott in the latest Budget - which virtually double the fuel duty - had made up the garage's mind.

'That was the final nail in the coffin. I hope other small garages don't follow us but I wouldn't be surprised if they did.'

Guernsey Motor Trades Association president Dave Beausire said that if the Treasury and Resources Department expected retailers to absorb higher costs, the Budget proposals could be the beginning of the end for smaller garages.

Lucksall Motors had been selling petrol for more than 50 years.

Mr Beausire said it was sad that such a longstanding fuel retailer had had to close because it was no longer financially viable.

'We have predicted this for a long time that as supermarkets and bigger petrol stations come into the market they will spell the demise of smaller garages, in the same way we have witnessed the demise of corner shops.'

Barras rents the Lucksall site and Mr Guilmoto said the workshop and valeting operations would remain open there.

One positive, he said, was that no one would lose their job.

'Luckily we haven't had to make anyone redundant as our petrol pump attendant is also our valeter.

'He's had a number of customers telling him today how sad they are that the pumps are closing.

'It's a sad day because we have offered a good service to the community around here for years.

'It's another locally-established petrol station that has had to close its pumps.'

Mr Beausire said: 'Sadly, I think it will be the first of many small garages over the next five or six years.'

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