LPG Discussion Forum

Three Shell stations in Stirling area have stopped selling LPG as well.

The shell at cribbs causeway at Bristol has gone as well, though at least theres 3 other stations fairly close there, but none of those are 24 hour.

Just seen that Shell at Trerulefoot Roundabout in Cornwall have discontinued it and are removing the pumps. I've also been told that the Shell at Saltash will also discontinue it soon.

JX350 wrote: Tue Jan 07, 2020 4:20 pm Just seen that Shell at Trerulefoot Roundabout in Cornwall have discontinued it and are removing the pumps. I've also been told that the Shell at Saltash will also discontinue it soon.

Depends whos been telling you that - Given that particular station is one of the ones supplied by Flogas (it used to do the now-defunct MRH Accumulator card, before it swapped from being Texaco to Shell) those have generally not been affected by this. But there is just no telling unfortunately.

Most of the ones outside Scotland that have disappeared, have done so where a nearby station is offering LPG (usually at a competitive price as well).

The autogas station locator https://autogaslimited.co.uk/43d2-where-to-find-autogas seems to be fairly upto date for their stations, though it still shows Cardon (the one you referred to) the others I know have gone have been removed. But it only shows the ones they supply obviously.

If you haven't already discovered it, www.filllpg.co.uk is a useful resource for station locations.

Hi Brian, The station at Saltash (Carkeel) told me when I asked them if they were also removing theirs. They confirmed that they would be. My nearest station will then become either Cornwall Services BP or the BP near Okehampton. Which are both in the opposite direction from my daily drive. Looks like this might force me into changing my car to something available. Shame really.

Doesn't sound good, though I wouldn't necessarily believe them until you see the pump disappear (after all, their trade might increase given the other forecourt has lost their pump). I've removed 3 stations this week that no longer have their pumps on filllpg that I've been to now.

I can only assume Calor must be close to going bust or just greedy - Their cylinder prices have been getting silly over the last couple of years now, the 19kg ones I use on the space heater and my mate uses for heating his greenhouse are now over £50 for a refill from them. Same size cylinder from Flogas was £32 last time i got one, Birmingham Autogas have them at £17.

I notice that Calor have changed their logo to that of Primagaz, maybe they are pulling out even though a lot of Shell filling stations still have banners encouraging conversions and giving double points on Autogas?

A few of the ones in Scotland still have the autogas sign up above the area where the pump was before they removed it. Double points is nonsense - that stopped with drivers club (which was replaced by Shell go+ last summer) as they don't give you points on litres anymore, its based on visits and from what everyone says, you get much less back than you used to now. But the double points thing I think related to sometime around summer 2018 if not before then, just lazy stations not removing expired promotional material I guess. I've not been using Shell much recently as the closest station to me is BP and upto last week both were the same price for LPG anyway, so it made more sense to go there (and use their somewhat more generous loyalty scheme instead) or use Sainsburys Colney if I was passing by there.

It looks like both companies you mention are part of the same group - SHV energy, https://www.primalng.com/ shows a little more detail, but they both appear to have the same logo now.

I saw on Wednesday the station at Carkeel, Saltash in Cornwall was still offering autogas at 59.9/litre. Has it had a reprieve or is it the result of the lockdown?

I was going to get my car converted but the loss of a local station (Plymouth) will make the conversion pointless.

All you can do is ask either Shell or flogas if they plan to keep the pump. The email I had from autogas suggested Shell were going to remove all of them as they were over 20 years old. Which isn't even true in a lot of cases as a few stations of theirs haven't even been built that long. That station (the one near the toll bridge) is a flogas one so nothing to do with autogas/calor.

Brian_H wrote: Fri May 29, 2020 8:51 pm All you can do is ask either Shell or flogas if they plan to keep the pump. The email I had from autogas suggested Shell were going to remove all of them as they were over 20 years old. Which isn't even true in a lot of cases as a few stations of theirs haven't even been built that long. That station (the one near the toll bridge) is a flogas one so nothing to do with autogas/calor.

I've asked Flogas and they say they have no plans to stop supplying LPG. The pump at Carkeel looked old to me. Up to the garage owners if they keep it really. One gentleman was using it when I arrived. Now that it's the only one for miles around, perhaps that'll mean it gets used, it'll stay

I filled at Shell Redbeck Wakefield yesterday.

Then went for a drive out and picnic, up the A1, across route 66 (erm A66 lol), entered the Yorkshire Dales from the North end, ate picnic near Tan Moor Inn (highest pub in England) and drove back through the Dales.. So now I need to fill again.

Probably right. I was talking to the owner of a Shell franchise filling station (as opposed to one owned by Shell) and he told me that Shell set his fuel prices. He said he would love everyone to switch to LPG as there was a far greater profit on it than petrol or diesel. He reckoned he could knock 5p a litre off and still be making more than on diesel. The other difference is that those of us running on LPG tend to fill the tank each time so are buying 50-100 litres at a time rather than someone just topping up £10 or £20 worth per visit.

There is finally some news on this on the following link

https://autogaslimited.co.uk/the-current-situation

Text copied below with the dates given on the above link.

---Quoted Text---

Current Situation
Autogas Limited, a joint venture between Shell and Calor is currently the leading supplier of automotive LPG to UK forecourts, supplying over 150 Shell branded and other independent service stations throughout the country. Following a business review by the Autogas board, the decision has been taken to begin the decommissioning process of its LPG refuelling network scheduled to take place within the next 6 months. This will also mark the end of this joint venture between Shell and Calor.

LPG is a valuable energy source that is used for numerous business applications in industry and transportation. As a transport fuel, LPG is a lower cost and cleaner transitional fuel and particularly applicable for light vehicles. However, in the UK we have seen a decline in the domestic transportation market over the last few years. As this is the market that the current network of Autogas LPG refuelling facilities caters for, we are seeing underutilisation of this service. In addition, the current Autogas refuelling network was installed around 20 years ago, and as such, significant investment will be required to ensure the long-term safe and compliant operation of these facilities.

Although drivers of LPG vehicles will no longer be able to refuel at Autogas sites at Shell service stations, there remains large network of LPG sites across the UK, with infrastructure available to support LPG drivers. Calor will continue to supply LPG for transport into the existing network of around 1000 refuelling sites across the UK. Before any site is removed there will be notices fixed to each refuelling point to reflect the upcoming closure and allow customers to consider alternative sites. Customers can find information on their nearest local automotive LPG retailer at www.filllpg.co.uk

Decommissioning has started, and we will endeavour to keep customers informed through our website and a list of sites expected to be withdrawn can be found below.

We will be following Government advice regarding the Covid-19 virus and therefore plans may change so please check back for updates.

On behalf of all the staff at Autogas Ltd we send everybody our best wishes during this worrying time.
Site

Postcode

Scheduled start date
Shell New York Road NE27 0QH 27/04/2020
Shell Portway SP10 3LS 28/04/2020
Shell Highland ME14 3HT 04/05/2020
Shell Magna DE12 8AP 05/05/2020
Shell Oswestry SY11 3EN 06/05/2020
Shell Ottershaw KT16 0PG 06/05/2020
Shell Beaumont Road BL3 4RB 12/05/2020
Shell Grove IP12 4LQ 12/05/2020
Shell Black Cat LL28 5LE 13/05/2020
Shell Ranelagh IP2 0DY 14/05/2020
Shell Towcester NN12 6HN 19/05/2020
Shell Liphook North GU30 7TT 19/05/2020
Shell Trocadero LE5 2BE 20/05/2020
Shell Liphook South GU30 7TU 21/05/2020
Shell Clearview RH1 5AL 26/05/2020
Shell Derby DE65 6DX 26/05/2020
Shell Sale M33 7JR 27/05/2020
Shell Thurcaston LE4 3LH 28/05/2020
Shell Retford DN22 0PG 01/06/2020
Shell Northampton NN4 0JN 01/06/2020
Shell Manor Way B62 8RJ 01/06/2020
Shell Yeading UB5 6LN 08/06/2020
Shell West Bromwich B70 9LS 08/06/2020
Shell Festival ST1 5JQ 08/06/2020
Shell Priory NG9 2TA 15/06/2020
Shell Cross Keys DY9 0JL 15/06/2020
Shell Solihull B91 1BB 15/06/2020
Shell Maidenhead SL6 0AR 15/06/2020
Shell Macknade ME13 8XA 22/06/2020
Shell Pied Piper RG22 6HT 22/06/2020
Shell Allestree DE22 2DG 22/06/2020
Shell Corrida B33 9AX 22/06/2020
Shell Cringleford NR9 3AU 29/06/2020
Shell Carlisle North CA6 4HA 29/06/2020
Shell Dreghorn EH13 9QR 29/06/2020
Shell Tothill RG20 9BX 29/06/2020
Shell Doggetts Lane CO6 1EU 06/07/2020
Shell Thrapston NN14 4UA 06/07/2020
Shell Eagle OL11 1TJ 06/07/2020
Shell Upton CH49 0UE 06/07/2020
Shell Pinner HA5 2AF 13/07/2020
Shell Broadmead BS2 9LU 13/07/2020
Shell Downend BS36 1AH 13/07/2020
Shell Ladymead GU1 1DL 13/07/2020
Shell Lymington SO41 8DH 13/07/2020
Shell Chigwell IG7 5PP 20/07/2020
Shell Derby Road L20 1BP 20/07/2020
Shell Harlow CM17 9NG 20/07/2020
Shell Oldbury GL10 3SJ 20/07/2020
Shell Sandiway CW8 2DX 27/07/2020
Shell Redheugh Bridge NE8 2JX 27/07/2020
Shell Rayleigh SS6 7SL 27/07/2020

Interesting that they refer to www.filllpg.co.uk, an unofficial site set up by a member on here rather than their own (which is highly inaccurate).

I also think part of the problem is that the number of LPG fuelled vehicles is under reported. According to DVLA there are around 150,000 LPG powered vehicles registered yet, of the 5 LPG vehicles I've owned, only 1 of them was shown in the V5(C) as being on LPG, the others all showed fuel type petrol. If that is the norm, then there are actually over 500,000 of us out there. I've managed, but only after writing to DVLA pointing out that I needed the V5(C) to show the correct fuel type in order to get the correct category of Vignette for France and Germany, to get my Range Rover V5(C) altered. I once tried to change the fuel type on the Saab I used to own by taking the V5 and a copy of an LPG safety inspection certificate into a DVLA local office (when they still had them) and they wouldn't do it. I told them that I was supposed to inform of any change of fuel type so was doing but they said as it was too old to be on the sliding scale road tax so I wouldn't get a discount there was no point in changing the V5(C), the fact I'd told them was all that mattered

2 of the 5 I've had have had the fuel type correct on the logbook, One I've managed to change, the other came like it (but was on a 1997 R plate so should have been the same as your situation). I'd suspect the view of Autogas is that the sales are too low for them. Of course it doesn't help when they are typically the more expensive sites to increase sales either.

I'd also point out that the list above is what is on their website at this time, I'm not sure if they intend adding more to that list as its unclear if thats the remaining ones to close (there are a number of others that have disappeared previously that are not on that list).

It also does not mention any motorway service station sites as far as i can tell, so maybe those have a reprieve for now. I would guess those are operated by the services owner as a franchise rather than operated by Shell so are somewhat seperate (and a lot of them use LPG for the building services anyway due to them being in remote locations)

I've had references to filllpg on emails from them before as well, though given go-autogas (the website from the people that used to do the printed map) has now gone (and was highly inaccurate anyway) and mylpg.eu is somewhat hit and miss for UK sites, there isn't really any alternative. Doesn't really help when the fuel companies themselves can't manage to get their own websites to list the stations accurately that actually have LPG (both BP and Shell had errors listing stations that had autogas when they didn't on their station locator tools).

More been added to their list today

https://autogaslimited.co.uk/the-current-situation

Shell Cheltenham GL51 7AY 03/08/2020
Shell Darby's Corner BH17 7JX 03/08/2020
Shell Chase OX26 6HB 03/08/2020
Shell Ollerton NG22 9DT 03/08/2020
Shell Haydock Island WA12 0HL 10/08/2020
Shell Lincoln LN1 3ND 10/08/2020
Shell Buckden PE19 5XF 10/08/2020
Shell Carland Cross TR8 5AY 17/08/2020
Shell Hayle TR27 5DG 17/08/2020
Shell Sunbury TW13 6QN 17/08/2020
Shell Southwark Park SE16 2JN 17/08/2020
Shell Chiswell AL2 2EH 24/08/2020
Shell Leadenhall MK6 5AD 24/08/2020
Shell Sceptre WD24 4BX 24/08/2020
Shell Circle EH4 2NT 31/08/2020
Shell Titchfield PO14 4BB 31/08/2020
Shell Woodford IG8 8HQ 31/08/2020
Shell Tonbridge TN9 2SA 07/09/2020
Shell Stirling Corner EN5 3TG 07/09/2020
Shell Winnall SO23 7SL 07/09/2020
Shell Ealing W5 3HJ 14/09/2020
Shell Waitrose Salisbury SP2 7TS 14/09/2020
Shell Waitrose Southend on Sea SS2 4DR 21/09/2020
Shell Gloster CR0 2LG 21/09/2020
Shell Savoy SW18 1TP 21/09/2020
Shell Waitrose Cheltenham GL50 3QW 28/09/2020
Shell Beaconsfield HP9 2SE 05/10/2020
Shell Luton Airport LU2 9HD 05/10/2020
Shell Barking IG11 8BU 05/10/2020
Shell Bourne End HP1 2SB 12/10/2020
Shell Cobham KT11 3DB 12/10/2020
Shell Victoria SW1W 9QN 12/10/2020
Shell Chesterfield North DE55 5DG 19/10/2020
Shell Chesterfield South DE55 5DG 19/10/2020
Shell Baguley M23 9AA 19/10/2020
Shell Channel Gateway CT21 4GH 19/10/2020
Shell Cambridge CB23 4WU 26/10/2020
Shell Peterborough PE7 3UQ 26/10/2020

The Luton airport one doesn't surprise me, there's another within a mile that is consistently cheaper but I'm not happy about the last one. That's only 2 miles from my house and is my usual fill up as it is open 24 hours. Admittedly it's more expensive than the others that are slightly further away but it's the motorway services on the A1(M) and always seems reasonably busy.

One of my local ones is going (Leadenhall) and Chase is another I drive past, plus the two on the A34 (Tothill and Winall). Makes some of my regular journeys (when i get back to actually doing them) very sparcely covered.

The other one in Luton used to be Total, so should be safe as it would be flogas. Same with the Shell just off j14 of the m1 here (Broughton). But will see what the future holds. Less choice will likely mean the price goes up as well.

A second tank might be the option to choose.....

There's another one, a BP, about a mile north of the Peterborough services exit but I'm surprised that has kept it's pump. Flogas in town are currently charging 58p, another Shell station (but a franchise) in town is 64.9, the A1 services (the one that will be losing it's pumps) is 68.9 and the BP just up the road is 80.9.