Motorway signs to show fuel prices

The government has announced that it will press ahead with plans to introduce signs on motorways that display the price of fuel at services stations to help promote competition and lower fuel prices.

The Department for Transport (DfT) will begin work early in 2015 on trialling a new fuel comparison sign at five service stations on the M5 between Bristol and Exeter, with a view to introducing the signs by the end of the year.

The trial follows a report by the OFT in January 2013 which called for more public information on UK petrol and diesel prices. The OFT found fuel sold at motorway stations was on average 7.5 pence per litre more expensive for petrol, and 8.3 pence per litre for diesel, than across the rest of the country.

Over the past six months the DfT has been examining the cost and planning implications of introducing the signs. The aim of the trial will be to determine whether traffic signs are effective in providing information to road users, and successful in bringing down prices.

Five service stations on the Bristol to Exeter stretch of the M5 have agreed in principle to be involved in the trial.