AA: petrol hits record high

The average price has risen from last week's record figure of 121.76p a litre to 122.14p (see Cheap Petrol & Diesel guide).

Average prices have gone up 3.06p a litre between mid-November and mid-December 2010, according to the the AA.

Diesel, which is still some way off its all-time record high, has risen 3.12p a litre over the last four weeks and now costs an average 126.19p.

Compared with this time last year, the cost of filling a 50-litre petrol tank has increased from £54.26 to £61.07. A 50-litre tank of diesel has gone up in price from £54.93 to £63.10.

UK petrol car owners are now spending £8 million a day more on fuel than a year ago.

Regional variations

London and south-east England have the most-expensive petrol on average, at 122.7p a litre, while Scotland and Wales have the dearest diesel, at 126.7p a litre.

However, some petrol prices in northern Scotland are at or exceeding 130p a litre, with 129.9p in Ullapool and 133.9p in Stornoway. Diesel there now costs around 135p a litre, at 134.9p in Ullapool and 135.9p in Stornoway.

Petrol on England's motorways varies from 121.9p a litre to 129.9p and for diesel from 124.9p to 132.9p.

AA president Edmund King says: "This is a bleak mid-winter for millions of drivers. Milking motorists through higher fuel prices is over, as many are running dry and biting back, not because they want to but because they have no option.

"Two thirds of drivers are cutting back on journeys, cutting back on other expenditure, or cutting back on both.

"As a result, we are seeing ever-more desperate attempts to claw money from drivers, such as the £1 million extra one London council wants to snatch from residents' parking permits, despite a Commons committee warning against turning a charge into a tax.

"It is the lower-income drivers who suffer first and hardest, and that is why the Government should not add further to their misery by increasing both duty and VAT on fuel in the new year."

Further reading/Key links

Drive down fuel costs: Cheap Petrol & Diesel Find cheap filling stations: PetrolPrices.com