Petrol prices in the Chard and Ilminster have dropped, seemingly following the example of a local garage owner.

Laurie McKinnon, owner of the Texaco on Station road, Ilminster has been keeping his prices around the 175p per litre mark for a few weeks and for a little while he was the exception to the high-prices rule.

Now it seems other garages have taken notice and the average price of fuel in the area has taken a tumble.

Mr McKinnon's garage is currently selling unleaded for 175.9ppp and both Tesco stories in Chard and Ilminster are charging 175.9ppp as well. The Texaco in Chard appears to be the cheapest source of fuel, having brought its price down to 174.9ppp, according to petrolprices.com. Meanwhile, the Shell garage in Ilminster remains expensive by comparison at 185.9ppp. 

Mr McKinnon, 40, previously told us: "The price has been coming down dramatically lately and as long as we make enough to cover our costs we say why not pass it back to people?

"I'd say 80-90 per cent of our year-round trade is from local people and I just think lowering the price is the right thing to do. We just thought it was time to give something back.

"I don't understand why the other sites in the area are not doing the same."

Pictures of Mr McKinnon's forecourt sign spread on social media like wildfire and he has won many plaudits from thankful people.

He said: "People have been coming in to take pictures of the sign as they can't believe it, my friend said he saw a post on Facebook and I couldn't believe how many people had shared it.

"It is getting quite busy on the forecourts now that the word is out, but people are behaving themselves, everyone is respectful and they'll move forward to allow the next customer in.

"Sometimes we lose track of who was on what pump, it's all fun and games.

"My staff have been brilliant though, they have been working so hard and I would like to express my thanks to them.

"With everything going on in the world, the price of oil became very volatile, but when Boris said he was resigning, the value of the pound went up and that put the price of oil down because we buy it in dollars. 

"I think it should come down even more in the near future, but I don't think we will ever come down to pre-covid levels."