Newspapers call for special fuel exemption

Newspaper publishers are lobbying the government for a special exemption to allow for the provision of fuel for distribution purposes during the petrol crises.

They claim that it will only be a matter of days before the distribution of newspapers to wholesalers and then on to retailers will cease.

The Newspaper Publishers Association has asked the Department of Trade and Industry for clarification.

Steve Oram, NPA director says: “Way back in the Seventies, at the time of the oil crisis, newspapers were treated as a special case and received a special fuel allowance, though they were not equal to the emergency services.”

The Mirror’s circulation and sales director Wally Cowley says: “The situation is extremely serious and the hauliers have enough fuel in their tanks for Wednesday and Thursday, but after that there is no magic wand.”