Drivers endure a ‘roller-coaster’ petrol price ride

‘Fleeced by greedy fat cats’

DRIVERS were punished at the pumps last month as petrol and diesel prices both rose by an average of 1p per litre.

Motorists will continue to face fluctuating fuel costs amid ‘roller-coaster’ price changes, the RAC warned.

Average unleaded prices in the UK at the end of July were 128.8p a litre, while diesel stood at 131.9p, the motoring group’s research revealed.

This was an average rise of 1p per litre for both fuels – after they fell in price by 2p in June.

The biggest fuel price hikes were imposed by supermarkets, meaning cuts they introduced just a few weeks earlier were largely cancelled out.

Rod Dennis, a spokesman for the RAC, said: ‘The rollercoaster effect of rising and falling prices that drivers will have witnessed in recent months is certainly in full swing.

‘The volatility of the price of a barrel of oil, and in turn wholesale fuel prices, makes it difficult to determine where prices might go next.’ Howard Cox, from campaign group FairFuelUK, slammed ‘gluttonous’ fuel suppliers, who he said tried to fleece drivers of millions of pounds.

Mr Cox said: ‘Our supporters see spikes of pricing hikes around the school holiday periods, with oil companies deliberately exploiting the captive market of families travelling to their holidays.’

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics last month revealed fuel prices had soared to their highest level for nearly four years. The average price for a litre of petrol in June was 128p – a price not seen since September 2014.

In July last year, drivers paid £7.50 less to fill a 55-litre unleaded fuel tank and £8.77 less to fill up an equivalent diesel car than in July this year.

This means petrol prices have risen by 12 per cent since last year and diesel prices have increased by 14 per cent.

Fuel duty has been frozen at 57.95p per litre since 2011, but speculation that the Treasury could raise the duty to give more money to the NHS has caused concern for drivers up and down the country.

Tory MP Robert Halfon said: ‘Yet again, motorists are being taken for a ride by greedy oil fat cats, fleecing hard-pressed drivers at every opportunity. The price of fuel impacts on every part of our economy.’

Motorists also face a lottery when they fill up their cars, with a huge disparity in prices even within the same town.

The Daily Mail reported last week that two BP garages on opposite sides of the busy A4 Hammersmith flyover into London were charging widely different amounts. One offered 131.9p per litre for unleaded, while the other charged 128.9p – a £1.50 difference on a 50-litre tank in a typical family car.

A poll of 24,000 road users by FairFuelUK found that 95 per cent believe oil firms ‘operate a fuel pricing cartel’, with 57 per cent believing the major supermarkets do this.

At the beginning of July, a barrel of oil cost just under £60 before later falling to £53 on July 17.