I write to you with reference to the disparity between garages over the cost of a litre of fuel.

There is a small four pump Murco garage five miles south of Cheltenham, on the A40 to Oxford charging 131.9 per litre for diesel.

Ten miles further down the same road, close to Burford, is a Gulf petrol station charging 143.9 per litre for diesel for those willing to pay for it.

The cost at the Gulf petrol station is 12p per litre higher, or 54p per gallon more than the average supermarket price of 136.9 – and it seems to be rising almost weekly.

Fuel in Banbury, barely 20 miles north of Oxford, is approximately 2p a litre cheaper than in Oxford.

India, wrongly considered by many to be a Third World country, operates on many goods sold an MRP, a maximum retail price, which is clearly marked on the goods, so a retailer can sell a chocolate bar up to, and including, the MR indicated on the packaging. They can sell it for less if they wish, but no higher than the marked MRP.

Why can’t we operate a similar system in this country?

Supermarkets are continually informing us that their massive buying power keeps down the cost of the weekly shop, but they never seem to apply the same to their fuel.

A national MRP system would force all retailers to stick to the cost shown on the packet regardless of who they were.

The same MRP system could make it an offence to charge above that rate.

Garages could be made to display the current MRP rate for fuel and their current charge for the same, and motorists then could vote with their wheels and effectively boycott those charging prices close to or equivalent to the current MRP.

No doubt large organisations which enjoy informing us of their massive yearly profits would object to this, but the customer would definitely benefit.

This could also cover utility companies.

Try making a comparison on websites for gas and electricity. They are formed in such a way that direct and accurate comparisons can’t easily be made.

Give us an MRP system that forces some sort of control on retailers. If India can do it, and with great success, why can’t we?

Ken Roper, Morton Avenue, Kidlington