SOME Pembrokeshire garages are this week selling petrol at more than £1-a-litre as the effects of Hurricane Katrina cause fuel prices to soar.

The Old Pump Filling Station at Pentlepoir, near Saundersfoot, is charging £1.03 for unleaded - one of a number of fuel outlets in the area to break the £1 barrier.

Diana McGrath, who runs the family-owned garage, said she had no choice but to raise prices.

"The price is market driven and when the wholesale price goes up I have to put up my prices,'' she said. "I have to set my prices according to what I buy it in for, because I wouldn't be in business otherwise.''

Petrol stations work to a margin, ideally between 4.5p and 6p a litre "Last year I was able to let it fall below 3p a litre during the summer, because of the volume of trade,'' said Mrs McGrath.

Garages, she said, barely made enough from fuel to cover the cost of their staff.

"I just don't know what the answer is,' she said. "My father-in-law owns this garage and this winter I will probably be working for no remuneration just to keep the business going.''

The price rises come after Hurricane Katrina knocked out oil platforms and refineries in the Gulf of Mexico, affecting supplies.

Meanwhile, furious hauliers look set to be preparing for a second wave of refinery protests in Pembrokeshire and a blockade of the M4 is also on the cards.

Haulage companies said soaring petrol and diesel prices were causing severe hardship to their industries and some had already laid off drivers.

Mark Greene, one of the organisers of the 2001 refinery blockades in Pembrokeshire, said direct action was planned because peaceful protests had failed to get the Government to reduce the "outrageously high level of tax'' imposed on petrol and diesel.