BAD news for motorists is fuelling a surge in business for an award-winning firm all geared up for a £1-a-litre petrol rush.

With fuel prices soaring again, this time in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Xmo Strata is on call to fix signs that are unable to cope with prices of more than 99.99p.

The company, based in Kent House, Maidstone, specialises in installing signs and graphics in petrol forecourts across the UK.

Managing director Steve Martin ridiculed reported claims by the Petrol Retailers Association that £1 a litre would not arrive before Christmas as "plain wrong."

He said £1 a litre would arrive "this month" in many parts of the UK.

His firm, the independent UK market leader, had already been inundated with calls from petrol retailers and individual dealers.

His view was widely supported by dealers, he said, many of whom believe that the £1 barrier will be smashed within a fortnight.

Some forecourts in London have already been charging more than a pound a litre.

But in Kent, the price has hovered around the mid-90p mark for the past week, with at least one garage putting up its price - albeit temporarily - to 103.9p before bringing it down to 99.9p.

Now thousands of petrol stations using dated sign technology are desperate to get their signage updated in the wake of predicted shortages following the devastating hurricane that swept across New Orleans and the American Deep South.

Xmo Strata won a Kent Business Award for excellence in training and enterprise in June, and was runner-up in two other categories Best New Business, and Customer Service.

It recently won a maintenance contract for more than 650 petrol forecourts managed by ABB.

The company claims to have the most highly qualified engineers and electricians in the UK sign industry.