Locals can get cheap gas at the Neilston gas station.

John Robb of John Robb & Son in Neilston, East Renfrewshire, sells unleaded gasoline for 168.9p and diesel for 183.9p. These prices are among the lowest in the area. He says that his company is doing this to help people in the area worry less about poverty.

It comes at a time when big stores are being criticized for not passing on lower wholesale prices to their customers. The average price of a litre of gasoline dropped by almost 9p in July to 182.69p, and the average price of a litre of diesel fell by almost 7p to 192.38p, according to the RAC.

But the driving group says that drivers are still paying too much at the pumps compared to wholesale prices, which have gone down by 20p in the last eight weeks. It says that a liter of gas should cost about 167p. Mr. Robb cut his gas and diesel prices right away to match the latest wholesale rate for a week.

When asked why he didn't wait to cut prices like some bigger companies do, the business owner told BBC Scotland, "We're in a small town, and that makes you look bad."

We plan to stay for a long time. We're not here to make money quickly. "We're here to help the community as much as the community helps me."

He says that the gas station, which has been in his family for four generations, makes "no money at all" from selling gas. He also says, "It's a break-even service right now."

The strategy isn't all bad, though. More people are coming to the Neilston company's workshop because of it. Mr. Robb said, "It brings in a lot of business." "You usually do know because the taxi drivers are the first ones to show up. So they have to talk about it over the radio.

"Seeing a lot of taxis is always a sign that you're in a competitive market."

In a place where the cost of living is high, people are glad to see lower prices. Mr. Robb said, "People don't hold back when they talk about prices."

He also said, "Most of it is funny, but you can see the worry and anxiety on their faces because gas is so expensive these days."

The owner of a business in Neilston said that forecourt bosses may have been slow to lower prices because they only made small amounts of money from each sale. "Over the years, we've all been living on a very thin margin," he said. "It's possible that some people are trying to make up for some of their losses."

"It's not something you would do as a business. We've been in business for four generations now. It's always been here, and as long as we can pay for it, we'll keep doing it. It wasn't enough to make a living. It's a business with no profit. Because of this, there aren't many sites left."