AT what point did it become okay to sell a 500ml Dr Pepper bottle for £1.99?

When big businesses want to take advantage of the little guy they do it by selling us overpriced stuff in our neighbourhoods.

Now, I am not a keen Dr Pepper drinker, or any soft drink for that matter, but have been known to have a tickle every so often.

I picked up this bottle from the Preston New Road/Montague Service Station based in Blackburn and was told it cost £1.99. Yes, £1.99 for a bottle of 500ml Dr Pepper. You could buy two for £2.20. But I didn’t need or want two I wanted one.

I am pretty certain I would pay less at a vending machine in some leisure centre.

It would be easy to blame the sugar tax on this but this wasn’t the case at all.

Now, before anyone says I am singling out EG and this BP petrol station I am not (this one is a Spar store) – I just don’t like to be charged £1.99 for 500ml for a soft drink. I am pretty sure the booze is cheaper.

In fact the booze is cheaper. Why didn’t I just buy some booze and be done with it.

We have all noticed how Tesco, Morrisons and the likes have opened up smaller stores in our neighbourhoods during the past two decades. They claim to be supplying us with cut-price offers near to our homes.

Local shops simply can’t compete.

But how cut-price are the offers? The Tesco Express based on Bank Top had the bottle priced at £1.40. A quick check online and the price is actually £1.33.

Asda and Iceland meanwhile also had the 2 for £2.20 offer on. Like I said, I don’t want two bottles I want one.

So, are prices really cheaper in local supermarkets or are we simple having to pay extra for the luxury of shopping there?

Or have the big multi-national companies figured out that we are all a bunch of muppets and will pay for a £1.99 bottle.

I don’t think so. Moreover, the average Abdul is being targeted subliminally and without knowing it is paying vastly over the odds for products and food because of the convenience.

But like everyone else I may well opt for a Dr Pepper some time soon. Well, what’s the worst that could happen?