THIS WEEK IN 1979: Petrol stations keep motorists guessing on the price of fuel

Vandalism, delivery hold-ups and fluctuating petrol prices left many of Portsmouth garages without roadside price displays.
By The Newsroom
Published 14th Aug 2017, 07:00 BST
Updated 12th Sep 2017, 11:30 BST
jpns-12-08-17 retro 2017 Petrol - Hampshire car sales, Milton Road, a Total garagejpns-12-08-17 retro 2017 Petrol - Hampshire car sales, Milton Road, a Total garage
jpns-12-08-17 retro 2017 Petrol - Hampshire car sales, Milton Road, a Total garage

The Petrol Price (Display) Order of 1977, made under the 1974 Prices Act, stated that petrol prices should be clearly displayed on garage premises.

Amendments carefully regulated the information that could be, and should be, displayed on outside hoardings.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But Hampshire County Council’s trading standards officer said: ‘There is no requirement that the price should be displayed to passing motorists’.

There was an increasing number of filling stations across the city not showing their prices.

At Huxfords in Copnor Road, a spokesman said the display had been vandalised.

He said: ‘The advertisement was smashed. There is another one on order with some correct pricing fixtures.’

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Tony Wormack, a salesman at the Total Garage in Milton Road, said: ‘We are waiting for the new poster showing the latest prices.’

The standards office spokesman said that the fluctuating price of petrol caused many garages to remove their external displays.

Related topics:PortsmouthHampshire County Council