Cut the price of diesel at the pumps by 4p a litre, urges RAC

BRITAIN’S biggest supermarkets have been urged to slash the price of diesel by 4p a litre after failing to pass on the latest fall in oil prices to drivers.

Oil fell below $50 (£39) a barrel last week, pushing down wholesale costs, but motoring group RAC said retailers have failed to lower prices on forecourts.

It said unleaded petrol could be cut by 2p per litre and diesel by around 4p a litre.

That would reduce the price of filling up a 55-litre diesel tank in a typical car by £2.20 – giving families a much-needed boost as inflation rises.

The average price for diesel across the whole of the UK is 117.56p per litre, though supermarkets are more than 3p cheaper, according to the RAC.

And supermarkets are charging 113.55p on average for unleaded, while the national average is

116.49p a litre. But the RAC’s Simon Williams said supermarkets were under a greater obligation to cut prices immediately as they buy fuel more frequently than other retailers and so would already be benefiting from the fall in costs.

He said: ‘We have been monitoring supermarket fuel prices closely since the oil price began to tumble, hoping that we would see them come down, but sadly that has not happened yet.’

Wholesale fuel prices have dropped due to a glut in oil supply caused by the realisation that the US has more oil and petrol supplies than previously thought.

Howard Cox, of motoring campaign group FairFuelUK, said the behaviour of retailers shows the need for an independent regulator to monitor pump prices.

He said: ‘It is essential that our new government wakes up to this perennial fleecing of hard-working highly taxed motorists and small businesses.

‘If millions of motorists can see this rip-off taking place every time they fill up, why can’t Whitehall?’

‘Fleecing of motorists’