Jersey's small vehicle recovery sector faces immediate losses after diesel price rises added between £9,000 and £11,000 to one operator's costs, the owner of a local breakdown service said. Oliver du Feu told reporters the impact was acute because his trucks, which hold between 80 and 120 litres, are refilled roughly every two days.
Du Feu said fuel duty would need to be reduced by 30p to 50p per litre to help firms manage the higher bills. At present fuel duty is about 65p per litre. A narrower proposal to cut duty by 10p per litre between October and December was withdrawn earlier this month after talks between Deputy Lucy Stephenson and Treasury Minister Alan Maclean.
Maclean described cutting duty as a "blunt tool" and said it tended to benefit wealthier people. He also said the government is developing targeted measures for the upcoming budget, which will be published by the end of September and debated in December, and warned there was a possibility some households could see no relief before next year.
Carl Walker of the Jersey Consumer Council said there is a misconception that only drivers feel fuel pain. "Of everything that we consume in this island, 97% is imported," he said, adding that almost all goods require fuel to arrive and to be distributed locally, which will push costs on to shoppers. The council reported that visits to its fuel and food price comparison website have more than doubled since last year.
Jon Best, director of ATF Fuels in Jersey, said wholesale fuel prices have reached their highest level in four months and warned that the Channel Islands are exposed to global energy markets despite their distance from the Middle East. UK petrol and diesel prices are also at their highest since 2022.
Operators like du Feu say they have so far absorbed rising costs but may need to raise charges if prices keep climbing. Islanders will watch the treasury's budget proposals for the targeted relief ministers say they are preparing, with officials flagging the first quarter of next year as a period of greatest pressure for households and businesses.
