Businesses in Watford have warned they could end up paying a catastrophic price following this week's petrol hike.

Prices in some Watford forecourts soared to almost 108 pence for a litre of the cheapest unleaded petrol following the third petrol rise in the past nine months.

Watford Observer reporters drove round a selection of petrol stations in town today and found the cheapest price for a litre of unleaded petrol was 101.9 pence.

However, other petrol stations are charging motorists up to five pence a litre more per litre.

Tristan Page, who co-owns the Watford Courier Company, estimated his company will have to find £50 extra every single day for fuel.

He said it was almost impossible for companies such as his to increase margins elsewhere while still fighting off stiff competition during the recession.

He said: “For normal people it is going to affect them over the year.

“But for people like us where we have vehicles on the road constantly during the day and often at night, it is going to be costing us a lot.

“Our vans and cars are probably doing about 250 litres a day. We go all over the world – one of our drivers has just got back from the west of France.

“We are looking at a minimum of £50 increase per day in fuel so it hasn't done us any favours.”

Graham Everett, from the Watford Friends of the Earth, said he would rather see a tax system that both encouraged people to use public transport as well as discourage environmentally unfriendly means of transport.

Furthermore, he said rises in fuel duty might not be the best way of discouraging car users.

He said: “I would point out that although clearly fuel duty has increased since 1997, the overall cost of motoring – when you take into account fuel, buying a car, taxing it – has actually fallen by 13 per cent in real terms.

“Whereas rail fares have increased by seven per cent and the cost of buses and coaches have risen by 17 per cent.”

He added he would like to see money raised by fuel duty increases directly invested back into the public transport network.

He said: “The money just goes straight into the Treasury and there is no obvious link between people paying this duty and improving green transport measures, such as cycle ways or whatever it might be.”

Kevin France, of the Watford and District Classic Vehicle Club, meanwhile said the petrol price hike was definitely having an effect on the number of people coming to car shows.

Kevin, who helps organise the Classics on the Green, held every year in Croxley Green, said: “Nobody likes petrol rises, do they?

“Over the years the number of people with the bigger V8 American engines have told me that they now go to fewer shows and go to closer shows.

“A car that does 12 to 14 miles to the gallon and if you say do a 100-mile round trip it will cost you almost £50.

“If you start going out every other weekend it starts piling up the money from a hobby point of view.”

Petrol prices in Watford are:

Esso 104.9

Total 104.2

Sainsbury's 101.9

Shell 104.9

Asda 101.9

Tesco 102.9

BP 106.9

All the prices are per litre and for the cheapest unleaded fuel.