SAINSBURY'S has announced a change to its petrol station forecourts across the UK in an act of support for Ukraine. 

The supermarket chain will stop selling Russian diesel in its petrol stations across the UK, affecting more than 300 stores.

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Sainsbury’s explain reason for change at its petrol stations

Rhian Bartlett, food commercial director at Sainsbury's, said: "We stand united with the people of Ukraine and have taken a range of steps to show our support - from helping to fund the humanitarian effort on the ground, to removing products from our stores which are 100 per cent sourced from Russia.

"We have been working hard to reduce the amount of diesel we sell which comes from Russia since the early days of the conflict."

He added: "This is a complex process, but we are committed to working together with the rest of the UK fuel industry and Government to support the ban on Russian oil imports, which is due to take effect by the end of this year."

Petrol and diesel prices in the UK climb to record highs

The change from Sainsbury’s comes as figures show petrol and diesel prices in the UK continue to climb to record highs.

Statistics from data firm Experian Catalist show the average cost of a litre of petrol at UK forecourts on Wednesday was 168.2p.

That was up from 167.6p per litre on Tuesday.

Diesel prices reached an average of 181.0p per litre on Wednesday, up from 180.9p a day earlier.

The Competition and Markets Authority warned on Wednesday that retailers could be fined if it launches a formal investigation into the sector, following claims they have hiked profit margins since a cut in fuel duty.

RAC analysis found retailers’ average profit margins for a litre of petrol and diesel are currently 11p and 8p respectively.

In the month up to the 5p per litre duty cut on March 23, it was 9p for petrol and 6p for diesel.