The company has already had discussions with local authorities which are keen to see the site redeveloped

The company has already had discussions with local authorities, which are keen to see the site redeveloped.. The Government has indicated that it is prepared to intervene over Ferrovial’s attempt to buy BAA, the owner of Heathrow and Gatwick, if a deal threatens its long-term strategy for the UK’s airports. The Department for Transport is thought to be concerned that, should the Spanish construction giant acquire BAA, its plans to develop Stansted as London’s third airport will suffer.
“We would be very concerned if it emerged that they wanted to milk the airport for cash and not continue with the investment BAA has agreed to,” said a well-placed source. BAA is spending £3bn on Stansted and £4bn building a fifth terminal at Heathrow.BAA’s executives are understood to have spoken with the Government already about the possible approach, first revealed on Wednesday. “There’s a whole range of complexities which are going to have to be negotiated before we even think about monetary terms,” said one insider.

There are clearly issues about what this means for UK aviation and what could happen to the Government’s policies. There’s an element of this that’s about UK plc.”The news of Ferrovial’s interest stunned the City, as BAA was not considered vulnerable to takeover. But those close to BAA say it had been concerned for some time that a bidder might emerge.There are also concerns about Heathrow’s future. Lord Soley, the campaign director for Future Heathrow, which is fighting for a third runway, said: “If there’s a takeover, I will be talking as fast as possible to the new owners as I would be worried. The question is whether [Ferrovial] would use Heathrow as a point-to-point airport. I am sure the Government will ask that and I am sure it will be very agitated if it loses its hub status.”Spanish insiders are believed to be confident that Ferrovial, which is considering a cash offer, will be able to work with the Government.

It is involved in London Underground through the Tube Lines consortium.BAA, which was privatised 19 years ago, has debts of around £5bn and some believe Ferrovial may need to offer 900p, costing it a total of £15bn. BAA’s shares closed on Friday at 779p, giving it a market value of £8.4bn.Other parties thought to be casting an eye over BAA include Australian bank Macquarie – although it could eventually partner Ferrovial – and Star Capital Investments Ferrovial and Macquarie jointly own Bristol airport.. The number of petrol stations in the UK has fallen to its lowest level since 1912, official figures out next month will show. An estimated 600 outlets closed last year, bringing the number below the 10,000 mark, despite petrol prices soaring to record levels. At their peak, in 1974, there were an estimated 74,000 petrol stations.
Numbers have been in steady decline since out-of-town super- markets entered the sector, offering cheap petrol to encourage drivers to shop there.Motorists also prefer to fill up at larger petrol stations, which have convenience stores selling fresh foods. Meanwhile, improved engine efficiency means fuel demand has barely risen.Independent petrol stations have borne the brunt, accounting for around two-thirds of last year’s closures.Ray Holloway, the director of the Petrol Retailers Association, has called on the Government to ban supermarkets from selling petrol at below cost.The Office of Fair Trading will soon decide on whether to refer the supermarket sector to the Competition Commission after complaints that they they are too dominant. A spokeswoman for the OFT said that the sale of petrol by super- markets could be one of the issues being examined, but declined to comment further.Typically, petrol stations will add 5p profit to the cost of supplying a litre of fuel.

But independent retailers complain that supermarkets can afford to supply petrol at cost, or even make a loss “This is not fair competition,” said Mr Holloway. “Supermarkets should not be allowed to make a loss on petrol.”Motorists are also having to drive further to reach their nearest petrol station. Mr Holloway added that, in rural areas, the average distance between stations is seven miles.A spokeswoman for Tesco, Britain’s largest supermarket chain, did not say whether it ever sold petrol as a loss leader. “Since entering the petrol market, we have worked hard to bring prices down for our customers,” she said. “We are able to do this because of the large volumes of fuel we sell and the efficiency savings we have made in our supply chain.”The Energy Institute, a trade association which compiles figures every year on the country’s petrol stations, found that just 10,371 remained at the end of 2004.