Charities and businesses wrestle with diesel cost

Charities and businesses across the North East have said they are struggling with the rising cost of diesel.

The average price of diesel has risen above £2 a litre in the UK for the first time, according to the RAC motoring group.

Over the past seven months, the Iran war has severely disrupted the production and transportation of wholesale oil and refined products from the region, causing prices to surge worldwide.

The North East cancer charity Daft as a Brush said it could no longer afford to upgrade its diesel vehicles to electric as they grappled with filling them up, whilst Teesside Minibus Hire said soaring prices were "not sustainable".

Daft as a Brush, which provides cancer patients with transport to their hospital appointments, said it was shelling out £15,000 a month on diesel - £5,000 more than last year.

The Newcastle-based charity - which drives 600,000 miles every year in its 30 vans - said it had planned on replacing them with electric vehicles, but now could not afford to because the money was being swallowed up at the pump.

Volunteer driver Davey Hall said: "Before the big hikes, we used to maybe fill up and it would take £40-45.

"Last week, it was £94 to fill the tank from half full."

Head of income generation Scott Jobson said the money was being taken from funds raised by donations, and they were not eligible for any kind of discount.

"At the pump, what you see is what we pay," he said.

"It stunts our growth and development."

In Middlesbrough, Teesside Minibus Hire director Billy Johnson said they often signed contracts with schools and businesses which could span multiple years - and were based on the cost of fuel when they were written.

"We're not running at a loss yet, but we're running close it to it not being worthwhile or sustainable," he said.

Johnson said they were having to pass the cost on to customers using services such as day hires, but because those customers were struggling with inflation themselves, they were not always prepared to pay the increased price.

Instead, people were turning towards cheaper, unlicensed hire services which did not pay the same overheads, he said.

Asked whether the business could survive if fuel prices did not drop, he said: "Long term, probably not."

In May, the government announced it would extend a fuel duty (tax) freeze until the end of the year.

It caps the tax at 5p per litre for petrol and diesel, and was introduced by the previous Conservative government after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine pushed prices up in 2022.

The government has stressed that there is no cause for concern about potential diesel shortages over the Iran War and has said the country has a "diverse and resilient supply".

Follow BBC North East on X, external, Facebook, external, Nextdoor and Instagram, external.