Filling petrol tank costs more than weekly shop

FAMILIES are spending more on fuel than their weekly food shopping because of record petrol prices, the AA said yesterday.

The motoring group said pump prices hit a new high of 142.48p per litre this week, while diesel remains near its peak of 147.88p per litre.

The cost of filling up a family car with a 50-litre fuel tank is about £71.24. An average household with two children spends £70.10 on food and non-alcoholic drinks per week.

For a family with two cars, it now costs £22 more to top up with petrol than it did at the beginning of the year.

Petrol prices have been high since the threat of a strike by tanker drivers began last month. Motorists queued at pumps, even though the strike never happened, leading people to stretch their spending on petrol.

Edmund King, the president of the AA, said household budgets had been put under “intolerable strain”. “Panic buying in March forced some cash-strapped families to spend far more on fuel than their budgets could bear,” he said.

The prospect of a strike by tanker drivers re-emerged yesterday after union officials overwhelmingly rejected a proposed deal aimed at averting industrial action.

Officials from Unite turned down the deal, which was thrashed out during six days of talks between the union and representatives of six fuel distribution companies.

Motorists were urged not to panicbuy as Unite said it wanted a negotiated settlement and stressed that it had not yet decided whether to name dates for action.

“It is very clear that, at this point, we are not on strike, we have not announced that we are going on

strike,” their union representative said. After the row flared last month, the Government advised motorists to top up their cars with petrol and to store fuel in jerry cans, leading to panic-buying and shortages of supplies.

Downing Street said that members of the public should check the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s website for advice.

Ed Davey, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, said that “any strike action would be wrong and unnecessary”.

Despite the rejection of the deal, it is believed that progress was made on a number of issues including pensions, health and safety and training.

Diana Holland, the assistant general secretary of Unite, said the union was calling for “guarantees and assurances” from employers.

Unite officials have contacted the conciliation service Acas, which has been aiding talks between both sides, and said it hoped employers would agree to hold fresh negotiations in the coming days.

Petrol prices have remained stubbornly high since last month’s panic buying despite the lack of a strike and falling oil prices on world markets.

The worst affected areas are Northern Ireland, where the average price of petrol has hit 143.9p per litre, and Wales at 142.9p per litre. Yorkshire and Scotland are the cheapest places at around 142.2p per litre.

The AA blamed “speculators” and called on the Government to “address the destructive tendencies in the oil and road fuel markets”.