Shell plunged into another public relations disaster last night as it stood by its threat to close unprofitable retail sites in rural areas in spite of making global profits of $8.6bn last year.

Mr John Edmonds, general secretary of the GMB, launched a vitriolic attack on the oil company as it emerged Shell is continuing to appeal to Government for ''a form of subsidy'' to maintain low profit-making retail sites in country areas.

Last night, Shell inflamed trade union fury as it confirmed global profits of $8.6bn. A Shell spokesman insisted the company's policy was nothing to do with last week's fuel protest but reflected the economics of petrol retailing in sparsely populated areas.

But Shell's stated recognition of the importance of their rural sites cut no ice with Mr Edmonds who was incensed at the company's ultimatum of closing stations or hiking up prices.

He said: ''The gas guzzler's greed is insatiable. For a company that has made such massive profits to come cap in hand to the taxpayer is scandalous. Working people are simply not prepared to see more of their tax revenue pumped into the coffers of the fattest cats in the corporate jungle''.

Shell pleaded ''historically low'' profits to justify closure or higher prices at smaller rural sites. It blamed its inability to maintain rural petrol stations on the increasing popularity of supermarkets, and the higher running costs and fewer competitors in rural areas.

Shell said it expected locally-based companies who were not bound by global constraints to step into the breach.