Petrol forecourt owners are potentially "profiteering" from soaring fuel prices, a Leicestershire MP has warned as she and a farmer have called for action to be taken amid the ongoing crisis.

Amanda Hack, the MP for North West Leicestershire, has said she fears that rural residents are being treated "unfairly" with massive price spikes in petrol and diesel in recent weeks since the Iran War broke out.

Farmer and former National Farmers' Union county chair Joe Stanley also told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that Leicestershire farmers have seen red diesel prices double since the war began, including kerosene prices.

The ongoing conflict is pushing up the price of oil and gas; however, Ms Hack said she has written to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) about the price hikes, revealing her concerns that "profiteering may have occurred" and "could still be occurring" in the district.

In her letter to the CMA, the MP referenced diesel costs, which jumped by 20p per litre since March 10 and pointed out price increases at certain forecourts such as Tesco Extra in Ashby, Morrisons in Coalville, Asda Express in Ellistown, Shell in Whitwick, and BP in Castle Donington and Ibstock.

Ms Hack called on the CMA "to address fuel price profiteering" and said she wants further action from the government body.

In a statement, she told the LDRS: "The scale of the price differences we have, and continue to see across our area, compared with nearby communities, is worrying.

"I remain very concerned about the possibility of unfair pricing at the pumps and the impact this is having on household budgets".

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Meanwhile, Mr Stanley said he feels companies are cashing in on the conflict, with farmers bearing the brunt of price hikes across the district.

He told the LDRS: "It looks like profiteering by the fuel and supply companies is going on.

"In terms of the impact on farming, that's huge, and we're now in the spring planting season, so if you're an arable farmer growing crops, you'll be using a lot of diesel up right now".

Mr Stanley told the LDRS it was "difficult to escape the impression that there is profiteering going on" with current prices and that hikes were also hitting fertiliser as well, calling for more transparency around fertiliser prices.

He added: "Farming is not like any part of the economy so the reality is farmers can not pass on the price due to the increased cost of production. We have nobody to pass that onto.

"We're at the bottom of the food pyramid. Farmers are price takers and they have no control over the price that they are receiving for the stuff that they produce unless they have a farm shop and they can sell it directly to the public.

"We have to absorb it. We have to suck it up".

Mr Stanley said that North West Leicestershire has quite a diverse mix of farms, but local farmers have been working in an "unprecedented" and "challenging environment" over the past few years, and he felt many farmers in the area would have "absolutely no support".

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A spokesperson for Tesco told the LDRS it "regularly monitors fuel prices throughout a local area to ensure we're providing competitive prices for customers", while Shell told the LDRS that Harvest Energy Ltd. ran the Whitwick forecourt.

Motor Fuel Group, which operates Morrisons fuel courts, said it would not comment.

The LDRS has contacted ASDA, BP, Harvest Energy, and the CMA for comment.