A filling station is charging £1.45 a litre for diesel amid fears of fuel shortages if a strike at a giant oil refinery goes ahead.

The Rix garage in Kirkcaldy, Fife, has raised the cost of diesel by 25%, the Daily Record newspaper said. It also reported that the station was charging £1.25 a litre for unleaded petrol.

The move comes as talks aimed at averting a strike on Sunday at the Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland continue at Acas.

Tom Hutton, 56, a joiner who lives in Kirkcaldy, said he was astonished when he went to fill up his tank and discovered the price they were charging.

"I was running on fumes and when I went to get petrol it was £1.45 a litre," he said. "I challenged the woman in the shop about the price and she said they had had to put it up - but it was not her fault. I think it's absolutely ridiculous."

No-one at Rix Petroleum could be contacted for comment.

The Unite trade union has called the strike in protest at plans by the refinery's owners, Ineos, to end the company's final salary pension scheme for new workers and make other changes.

The company has started shutting down the Grangemouth refinery and has warned of fuel shortages from Friday if the strike goes ahead.

On Tuesday, Ineos announced legal action against Unite over what it called "inaccurate and misleading" comments made during the bitter dispute.

The company said Unite had claimed that Ineos had stripped £40 million from the Grangemouth pension fund. Ineos said this allegation was "completely untrue".