Islanders are being held to ransom by a supermarket charging inflated prices for petrol, according to a borough and county councillor.

Cllr Adrian Crowther (Con) has criticised Tesco in Sheerness for charging 2p per litre more for unleaded petrol at its Sheerness store than it does in Rainham.

Aggrieved

On Friday , motorists filling up at Tesco in Bridge Street were paying 112.9p for a litre of unleaded petrol, compared with 110.9p at Tesco in Rainham.

According to Cllr Crowther, people choosing to fill up at Asda in Sittingbourne would have expected to pay 109.9p per litre – 3p per litre less than Tesco’s price.

Cllr Crowther said: “I feel a bit aggrieved about this. It is an example of a big company holding us to ransom by charging excessive prices on the Island. If Tesco is charging one price off the Island, why have they hiked it up so much on the Island?

“Two pence doesn’t sound a lot, but when you drive a big car and you are putting 60 litres in, it adds up to a lot of money.”

He said the supermarket is taking advantage of the fact that many people living on Sheppey prefer to fill their cars up on the Island rather that travelling further afield.

He said apart from Queenborough Service Station there is no real competition on the Island.

He said: “Most people have a car and need petrol, and I don’t see the justification for this other than they rely on the fact that people prefer to fill up on the Island and there is only one other major competition, which means Tesco can really charge what they like.”

A spokesman for Tesco said the company did not operate a national pricing policy and set its prices to be as competitive as possible.