This will leave the 13,000 inhabitants of the villages of Őcsény, Bogyiszló and Szedres without a fuel supply, he added.

The wholesale price of diesel is now Ft 9 above the Ft 480 per litre limit imposed by the government on November 15.

It was announced on Saturday that the price cap will be prolonged from February 15 to at least May 15.

Androméda is sending its employees on paid leave until May 15.

The closure will be reported to the authorities, as required by the new rules, and the company is waiting to see whether MOL will take over the operation, as permitted by the new legislation.

Otto Grád, head of the crude oil association MÁSZ, said the regulation on the takeover of closing filling stations is “more than problematic”.

Large, long-term planning chains which invest tens of billions of forints annually have reserves, he said.

Népszava writes that some of the smaller filling station operators are “afraid of MOL”.