Drivers must ‘shop around’ as supermarkets are ‘taking advantage’ by charging ‘far higher’ fuel prices

The RAC are warning motorists to “shop around” as supermarkets are “taking advantage” of drivers as they are charging “far higher” fuel prices.

The RAC has accused the UK’s largest fuel retailers of refusing to lower the price of fuel for motorists despite there being a drop in wholesale costs.

The average price of petrol per litre is 161.0p and for diesel it is 184.4p, rural areas are charging more and supermarkets are making profits of around 15p per litre for both types of fuel.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said, “With many people struggling to put fuel in their cars, it’s very sad to see the biggest fuel retailers taking advantage of their customers by charging far higher prices than they should be.

“This is unfortunately a perfect example of prices falling like a feather, the opposite of them rocketing up as soon as the wholesale price rises significantly.

“The supermarkets dominate UK fuel retailing, primarily because they have traditionally sold petrol and diesel at lower prices due to the large volumes they sell.

“Sadly there is now a remarkable lack of competition among the four main players which means prices are far higher than they should be.

“There are smaller, independent forecourts offering more competitive prices than supermarkets, so drivers should shop around.”