Hello again money friends, Coryton Oil refinery to close.

It is indeed of concern that the petrol market appears to be shrinking in this country ... I have seen countless service stations disappear over the last twenty years and I can only see the trend continuing.

I have a Shell Drivers card that is a loyalty card ... the only Shell garage in my working area has just closed down and now taken over by 'Apple Green' petrol whose mission is to keep prices 'the lowest in the area' but at the same time refuse to take fuel cards and certain credit cards. I can no longer buy my favourite Shell petrol and benefit from my loyalty card.

You can see how this has happened .... the recession for one and less fuel being bought ... not to mention the greedy government taxes that have decimated the industry.

It may well be that future years see less fossil fuels being available and used and perhaps the electric car is the way forward ... it is that 'metamosphosis' in just about everything that surrounds us.

I think we will continue to see the petrol market shrink and more service stations will be lost .... I am aware that many survive purely from the peripheral products sold in the shop areas. There will be no need to panic buy but we will have to probably top up more frequently in the future as service station availability also shrinks.

Yet again our reliance on a foreign company has let us down. The overall company ownership has gone bankrupt. The sooner we become more reliant upon our own means the better. Many of our natural industries are now owned by foreign companies through financial expediency. A glowing example of this is our electricity industry mostly owned and fed to us from France. The sooner the people of this Nation and the Government wake up and realise that we can do better ourselves than reliance on others. Unfortunately, hopefully for the short term, there will be extra tankers to bring the fuel to the South East. The refinery itself is already a valuable profit making industry and will soon be owned by another oil giant. At any one time this Country has between one and two month's supply so people need not panic buy. Alas the greed of some people will always come to the fore when they suspect there could be a shortage.

On your second point Lillie with regards to foreign drivers having to pay a tax to use our roads in heavens name why not? Our drivers using Continental roads have had to pay tolls for years. At long last our haulage industry will be able to compete on a level playing field. Hurray for our Government on this point.

My understanding is that Coryton is a successful and profitable business and has already received a number of enquiries regarding buying the business as a going concern.

Even the Unions who like to portray all businesses as in crisis and fear for their membership are very optimistic about its future.

As for a run on petrol this has been disputed by all involved in the business. It continues to do the work that it is designated to do. The media are likely to create a worse case scenario, so as to have something to write about.

It is also very alarming for Coryton's workforce to be reading such speculative clap trap!!

As for a road duty for foreign drivers, I have long been an advocate of this. Thir lorries add to the destruction of our roads and therefore should be held financially responsible for their maintenence and upkeep. About time too!