Breakdown in Grangemouth dispute talks

MANY DRIVERS were still panic-buying petrol and putting filling stations under pressure yesterday as talks to avert a strike at the Grangemouth oil refinery broke down.

A two-day strike by up to 1200 workers will now go ahead on Sunday and Monday, threatening fuel supplies.

Ineos has already started shutting down Grangemouth and warned of fuel shortages from later this week if the strike went ahead.

Meanwhile, a Kirkcaldy petrol station accused of profiteering from fuel panic buying is still selling at an inflated rate, despite widespread anger from locals and calls for a reversal, writes Graeme Bletcher.

The town’s Bridgeton garage came under fire from motorists when unleaded petrol and diesel went up by 20p over the weekend, peaking at £1.45 per litre when many locals were rushing to fill up their tanks.

Prices dropped on Monday, but still remain high at £1.20 for unleaded and £1.30 for diesel—each five pence more than before the threat of strike action at Grangemouth triggered the scramble.

A spokesman for Bridgeton garage said, “We were charging £1.45 and £1.25 on Monday night because of a misunderstanding with the computer—it was only for 20 minutes until the computer was reset.”