DRIVERS have branded high fuel prices in Harwich and and Manningtree as “discrimination”.

Motorists in the two towns are paying up to 4p a litre more for their petrol than in Colchester.

In February the Standard revealed via consumer watchdog PetroPrices.com how the cheapest unleaded petrol in Harwich was at 129.9p Morrisons, compared to 126.7p at Asda in Colchester.

The Office of Fair Trading has told Harwich and North Essex Bernard Jenkin the prices are higher due to the number of forecourts and there being less supermarkets with filling stations in the town.

Cabbie Maurice Hinks, of Mayflower Associates, said: "“This is wrong, ridiculous, and ludicrous, and could even be seen as a form of discrimination.”