Petrol rage sweeps UK as abuse soars and Iran war sees prices skyrocket

Abuse of petrol station staff has more than doubled since the war in Iran saw fuel prices soar across the UK, with incidents up 115% in March vs the same period in February

Jerry Lawton Chief Reporter

15:27, 13 Apr 2026

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The price of petrol is soaring as the Iran war continues(Image: Getty Images)

Petrol rage has rocketed since the Iran war triggered a fuel price explosion. Incidents of abuse towards garage staff have more than doubled.

Figures show a 115% rise in aggressive and anti-social behaviour towards petrol station workers. The increase was from the first two weeks of March compared to the first two weeks of February.

Joint US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran began on February 28. The majority of reports in March were standalone incidents of aggressive or threatening behaviour towards staff.

Bristol, Newcastle and Leeds saw the highest increases. They all experienced rises in reported confrontations of more than 150%.

The data was compiled by Vars Technology which supplies retailers with facial recognition systems. Levels of aggressive behaviour across other retail sites did not see a notable increase, it said.

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Petrol rage on the rise as prices soar(Image: Anna Stepanova via Getty Images)

Vars Technology director John Garnett said: The rise in fuel prices has had a far bigger impact on the way people treat forecourt staff than it has on levels of fuel theft, which has only risen a small percentage on the sites we work with.

Anyone working in the industry understands that forecourt operators arent profiteering or price gouging and instead are doing their best to minimise price rises for customers.

However that message isnt coming through from Government. These figures clearly show the impact this is having on forecourt workers just trying to do their job.

Since the war began wholesale oil prices have rocketed 35%.

Crude oil is a key ingredient in petrol and diesel, so its price has a big influence on the cost of filling up a car.

An average tank of petrol is 13.86 more expensive than it was at the beginning of the conflict at 86.92, the RAC has said.

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A full tank of diesel now costs 26.80 more at 105.11.

The RAC has said drivers should not expect a big fall in pump prices soon, although rival group the AA said wholesale fuel costs were now lower than they were at the start of the week.

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