'For Sale' signs are now a common sight outside petrol stations all over the capital and the trend looks set to continue as the high value of the sites, and tight profit margins on fuel sales, force station owners to cash in on their assets.

Faughnan, public affairs manager with the AA, said, "It is a significant concern to us that so many filling stations are being sold off for redevelopment.

This is not an Irish phenomenon as it is happening all over the world. You only have to look at the way central London has become a petrol desert to see what could happen in Dublin.

"It is a basic law of economics with petrol retailing only yielding waferthin margins for owners to sell their stations for redevelopement. It is becoming more evident that petrol stations operating on the borderline of viability are likely to disappear if they are on prime real estate."

The Irish Petrol Retailers Association (IPRA) and the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) have warned that motorists will face long queues and rising prices as a result of declining competition in the market if the station sales boom continues.

Natalie Brennan, of CBRE estate agents, explained, "Around 60% to 70% of the petrol station sites being sold are being purchased for redevelopment because of their locations in higly populated and affluent areas. Developers are prepared to pay high prices for these sites as they are prime areas for residential developments."

Elsewhere, David Freeman, of Ganly Walters agents, has been involved in the property side of the oil industry for the past 30 years and has written extensively about the changes in the industry.

"I think that the current trend of sales of petrol stations is going to slow down as we will always need a certain number of filling stations as there are more cars on the road, " he said. "I believe that it will level off and the volume of traffic going through the remaining stations will increase. While the market has been strong for the sale of redevelopment sites, I think it is close to being saturated."

While the sale and closure of petrol stations in prime locations across the country continues, Faughnan pointed out that he expects a rise in the construction of petrol stations along our station-starved motorways.

"If you are driving south on the motorway from Belfast to Cork, you can drive from the border to just south of Portlaoise before you come across a petrol station, " said Faughnan. "The NRA now have plans for private development of filling stations along our motorways so that has to be welcomed."