Petrol is a word that is never far from the front of our newspapers, with prices over the last twenty four months soaring to higher than we ever would have thought possible. The advent of green cars to the market is something that has excited manufacturers and consumers alike, and with electric points appearing in Welcome Breaks up and down the country, it seems like the electric and hybrid cars will be a vision of the future, whether we like it or not.

But it’s interesting to find that petrol companies seem to be worrying about this too. There are now only nine thousand petrol stations in the UK, a stark contrast to the amount that we had twenty years ago, before we knew of the impact on the environment that gas guzzling vehicles were having. According to the Palmer and Harvey Forecourt Report, published in 2011, we have lost over twelve thousand pumps in the past two decades, while the number of cars on the roads has doubled, rising to a grand figure of over thirty one million cars.
This means there are far more areas that do not have a local petrol station, and that some people are struggling to find fuel near them, dubbing certain areas of the country, ‘fuel deserts’. This is placing more emphasis on the use of breakdown services when people’s cars break down due to the lack of petrol.

Chris Etherington, chief executive of Palmer and Harvey, said "These fuel deserts lead to massive inconvenience for the already hard-pressed motorist."

With the cost of car maintenance, fuel and running costs elevating over the past few years to record high levels, people are finding it hard to use their vehicles. If you are struggling to maintain a vehicle in the current economic climate then shop online for car insurance when it is time to renew your policy. Companies that offer competitive pricing such as Swiftcover.com are readily available on the internet, leaving you to spend your pennies on the longer trip to the petrol station.