Company's monthly fuel bill soars by £60,000 as a result of Middle East war |
Charles Sanders, who owns Sanders Coaches, said the conflict has impacted both its bus and coach services.
The Holt-based firm is well known for providing matchday coaches for Norwich City supporters travelling to home and away games.
Mr Sanders said it cost the company £110 more in fuel per coach to take fans to Bristol last Saturday than it would have done before the conflict.
Charles Sanders, the owner of Saunders Coaches (Image: Newsquest)
"Our bill last month was about £60,000 dearer than previous to the war, so it’s a huge amount of money," he told BBC Radio Norfolk.
"We’re contemplating what we’re going to do if this carries on much longer.
"In the short term the company can weather some of these things, but if this is going to go on all summer then we’re going to have to do something because we want to be in business at the end of the summer."
Sanders Coaches (Image: Antony Kelly)
Petrol and diesel prices have risen sharply since the outbreak of the US-Israel war with Iran seven weeks ago due to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The narrow waterway normally carries about a fifth of the world's oil.
Mr Sanders said the bus company has seen a small increase in passengers because more people are using public transport instead of their cars to avoid paying for fuel.
However, he said the firm has been unable to raise its bus fares to cover some of the extra fuel cost because of the government's £3 cap on bus fares.
"You can’t be forced to provide a service at a loss just because the government has put something in place," he said.
"The government say they’re not going to do anything about that [and that] they might have a review in the autumn, well that’s not going to help businesses very much."