Tough competition has led to a sharp increase in the number of unmanned petrol stations in the Netherlands, according to industry body Bovag.

In 2003 there were 3,661 manned petrol stations in the country and 600 without staff but 15 years later, unmanned petrol stations are in the majority, Bovag said.

By the beginning of this year 2,023 petrol stations had a shop and staff but 2,098 had replaced cash registry workers with an automatic payment machine.

‘Competition is really tough and entrepreneurs have to choose,’ spokesman Tom Huyskens told the AD. ‘You either close your shop, install a payment system and focus on price or you go full service and offer sandwiches, coffee, a car wash and the like.’

The traditional petrol station shop with sweets, tobacco and engine oil will not survive because the margins are too small to pay a decent wage, Huyskens said.