Cost of filling family car with fuel rises by almost £5 since start of September

The cost of filling a family car with fuel has risen by almost £5 since the start of September, the RAC said.

According to the motoring services company, the average price of a litre of petrol at UK forecourts reached 170.54p on Tuesday, while diesel climbed to 192.86p.

The price of diesel is now at its highest since July 29 2022, while petrol prices have not been this high since August 23 2022, the RAC said.

Prices look set to continue rising as the cost of a barrel of oil is now consistently trading for more than 100 dollars, RAC head of policy Simon Williams said.

“Since the start of this month, the cost of filling a family car has already risen by almost £5, to £94 for petrol and £106 for diesel,” he said.

“So the pressure on the Chancellor to act to support households, so many of whom are dependent on the car, is building.

“Fuel duty is set to start rising from January, but as we’ve said previously, there is a strong argument for leaving it at its current level, at least until the end of the Parliament.”

Earlier this month, oil prices rose above 100 dollars a barrel for the first time since July after the latest round of strikes in the Iran war.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “Six months into the conflict in the Gulf and drivers have paid billions of pounds in ‘war premiums’ over and above what they might have expected to pay had oil and pump prices remained near the level they were before the war began.

“The bad news is that they are likely to pay billions more before peace is restored.

“The Government can’t end the war, but it can recognise the financial hit to drivers and businesses caused by surging petrol and diesel prices.

“Surely the Chancellor is considering a cut in fuel duty at the budget to reverse this hike in the cost of living?

“It’s worth remembering that the Exchequer currently receives more than 80p per litre of fuel sold on the forecourts, in the form of duty and VAT.”

The Treasury has been contacted for comment.