PETROL prices in South Gloucestershire are expected to soar this summer, with rural areas seeing the worst effects of the country's new fuel crisis.

Following terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, which left 22 foreign oil workers dead, prices of petrol have risen daily.

A few garages in London are charging more than £1 per litre but in South Gloucestershire, prices have not yet reached the 90p mark.

However, hauliers in the county have expressed concern over the looming crisis and called on the Government to act now.

With its proximity to two major motorways, South Gloucestershire plays home to a substantial number of haulage companies, many of whom are bracing themselves for the worst.

Director of Frampton Cotterell-based J K Badman Transport Ltd, Maureen Badman called the situation "ridiculous".

She warned: "We will have to add a surcharge on to a our costs but we are holding off at the moment. It is bound to come though and the Government has to do something about it.

"I don't know what is going to happen but we cannot go on like this. Everything will go up but nobody wants to pay for it. We cannot keep putting prices up - people do not want to pay for deliveries going up so there will just be more competition."

Alan Coward, owner of a haulage company in Pilning, told the Gazette he might have to lay off drivers if his fuel expenditure keeps increasing.

He said: "We are paying over the odds already. Every penny that is increased costs me an extra £100 a month and that does make a difference. Somebody has to pay for it and it will end up being my customers. We provide a good service but we cannot do it for nothing."

Mr Coward said he would definitely have to increase prices to cope with the rises but that the Government were not entirely to blame. He said problems oversees could not be foreseen but called for the expected two pence rise in September to be scrapped.

The Petrol Retailers' Association has warned that motorists in rural areas will face the steepest increases.

Director Ray Holloway said: "Price rises now are the result of the rise in crude prices in May and it is clear that this summer is going to be a very difficult one. If the price of crude goes up, prices at the pumps go up. Certainly, motorists in rural areas will face the highest prices."

However, he did not blame the rises entirely on the attacks in Saudi Arabia, the world's single biggest oil producer.

Mr Holloway added: "Prices were expected to go up even before the latest worries about Saudi Arabia.

"The present Saudi situation is merely adding to what was already going to be a difficult year."

This week prices in Winterbourne reached 83.9p for a litre of unleaded and in Almondsbury, drivers were paying 84.9p. A litre of four-star petrol was priced at 86.9 pence and in Thornbury, a litre of LRP was 87.9p.

Drivers have been warned to expect further rises though, especially if the Government goes ahead with a two-pence rise on fuel duty in September and because of fears that Saudi's oil reserves could be the target of more attacks.