Last week, Oakham Nub News raised the question: are motorists being ripped off in Oakham by BP with high fuel prices?, motorists visiting the 24-hour Esso and Londis store risk a £60 penalty charge for lingering over 10 minutes, this blatant profiteering.,

Last week, Oakham Nub News raised the question: are motorists being ripped off in Oakham by BP with high fuel prices? We have high price BP, Co-operative Food and Esso, I compared prices in Melton Mowbray, Market Harborough, and Leicester, finding all cheaper than Oakham. Now, adding insult to injury, motorists visiting the 24-hour Esso and Londis store risk a £60 penalty charge for lingering over 10 minutes. Filling your car, washing it, checking tire pressure, grabbing a coffee from the Costa Express machine, or dropping off a parcel – all within 10 minutes? Seems near impossible.

The operators have plastered the site with new unsightly, obtrusive notices and installed new car park cameras operated by Euro Car Parks  to enforce this draconian policy. Personally, I find these penalty charge companies no better than the banned wheel clamping – both are predatory practices that exploit motorists. Thankfully, customers won their fight against similar cameras when Lidl first opened in Oakham. Perhaps it's time for another community stand against this blatant profiteering.