Petrol at 170.54p and diesel 192.86p: fuel duty rise due in January

Drivers are now paying an average of 170.54p a litre for petrol and 192.86p for diesel, according to fresh RAC Fuel Watch figures. Those are pump prices not seen in around four years, and with a fuel duty increase pencilled in for January, motoring groups are urging the Chancellor to step in at the budget.

The RAC says forecourt costs are at their highest level since July and August 2022, the months that followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine. At that peak, drivers were paying roughly 191p a litre for petrol and just under £2 for diesel. Diesel is now said to be only 7p away from the most expensive price ever recorded in the UK.

The increases are not slowing down. The RAC says prices are climbing by about 1p a day, with diesel rising faster at an average of 1.18p daily. On that trajectory, diesel car and van owners could soon be facing the highest costs ever seen at British pumps.

The effect on a weekly household budget is already measurable. Since the start of this month alone, the RAC says the cost of filling a family car has gone up by almost £5, taking a full tank to £94 for petrol and £106 for diesel. Simon Williams, head of policy at the RAC, said prices "look set to keep on rising" while a barrel of oil continues to trade above $100, worth around £74.23.

He added that "the pressure on the Chancellor to act to support households, so many of whom are dependent on the car, is building". The RAC's argument is that fuel duty should be left where it is for now, and Mr Williams said there is "a strong argument for leaving it at its current level, at least until the end of the Parliament".

The timetable matters here. The 5p cut to fuel duty was brought in during 2022 to soften the blow of soaring prices and has been rolled over every year since, most recently extended until the end of 2026 under former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. The Government has said the cut will be phased out gradually in September and December this year before duty returns to pre-2022 levels in March 2027, with a 3p rise expected in January.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said the Government cannot end the war driving up oil prices, but it can recognise the financial hit being taken by drivers and businesses, and he called on the Chancellor to consider a cut to fuel duty at the budget to reverse the increase in the cost of living.

Where you fill up makes a real difference. The most expensive petrol recorded was 202.99p a litre at the Cluanie Inn Hotel in Glenmoriston, Inverness, followed by East Grinstead Service Station in West Sussex at 199.9p and three Asda forecourts in Bicester, Tamworth and Stone at 196.9p. For diesel, Island Carriers on St Mary's in the Isles of Scilly topped the list at 220p, with Courtesy Filling Station in Southampton at 219.9p, A&C Maclean in Castlebay on Barra at 218p, and both Hilton Park South near Wolverhampton and Welcome Break Charnock Richard South near Chorley at 214.9p.

For most households there is no alternative to the car, and no way to opt out of the price at the pump. Every penny on a litre is money taken straight out of the weekly shop, and the decision on whether duty rises in January sits entirely with the Treasury.