Fuel company EVF has confirmed petrol prices have risen in the island but denied this has anything to do with the influx of TT visitors.

The company, which has several petrol garages across the island, this week highlighted a weakening pound and a rise in global oil prices as the reasons behind the increase.

Prior to its statement, the company, and other fuel providers in the island, had been accused on social media of putting up their prices ahead of TT in order to take advantage of the extra customers who will be seeking to fill up at the pumps.

One reader who contacted the Manx Independent about the increases, Jim Kelly from Douglas, said the rises were ’outrageous’ given the timing and said friends visiting for the TT said prices in Northern Ireland where they had been for the North West 200 were much lower.

Others have said on Facebook it was ’typical’ for prices to go up just before TT.

As the Manx Independent went to print, prices at the EVF garage on Peel Road were 132.9p per litre for unleaded, 136.9p for diesel and 138.9 for super unleaded.

The most recently available figures from the AA date from April. They show the average UK price was 125.4p for unleaded, 132.0p for diesel and 137.3p for super unleaded.

During that same period, the AA said the supermarket averages were 120.9p, 129.2p and 127.1p respectively.

And the Manx government said the average prices in the island for April were 126.78p for unleaded and 133.83 for diesel.

The current figures on confused.com show the average price of petrol is 130.1p in the UK. The most expensive is 158.9p and the lowest is 116.9p.

The figures for diesel were 135.2p (average), 159.9p (most expensive) and 123.9p (cheapest).While EVF admitted that prices had risen just before TT it denounced what it called ’conspiracy theories for this increase’.

A spokesman added: ’We can confirm that although the TT is awesome, it has no effect on the increasing cost of fuel around the globe.’

The company explained that as in previous years it received a shipment of fuel just before practice week, to ’ensure our regulars and visitors have enough fuel to keep everyone on the move this TT’.

EVF said that this shipment was more expensive than the previous one it had delivered and as such, prices in the island have increased.

And its spokesman asked the public to be mindful that its employees working in EVF shops across the island are not responsible for the increase.

He added: ’We would like to point out that our hard working teams at the retail sites are not responsible for these increases, and a quick look to falling value of Sterling against the Dollar since our last shipment and increasing cost of fuel world wide is the reason for this.

’Lots of our visitors have pointed out that the island is still cheaper than most parts of the UK for fuel with exception of some supermarkets who use fuel as a loss leader.

’Any price increase has a massive effect on us as we are buying up to five million litres at a time.’

The prices at the Manx Petroleum garage on Peel Road is the same as the EVF garage.

Data published by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy shows that British motorists have faced 15 consecutive weeks of petrol price rises.