Second petrol cost cut as prices down - but it should be even cheaper

Petrol prices have seen their second consecutive cut after new figures show a cut of 6p per litre.

The RAC said the average price of fuel in the UK decreased from 146.7p on December 1 to 140.6p on December 31. Overall, petrol prices have now been brought down to a level last seen in early February 2022 - before Russia's invasion of Ukraine which saw a surge in the cost of oil.

In December, the average price of a litre of diesel fell from 154.3p to 149.2p. Despite this, the RAC said pump prices should be even further reduced as the average supermarket margin on fuel was 13p per litre last month - more than double what it was in 2021.

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RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “It’s clearly good news that both petrol and diesel came down substantially in December.

“While we’re starting the year paying much less at the pumps than we have done, it’s still galling to know that drivers aren’t being charged a fair price in comparison to Northern Ireland where the very same petrol and diesel is at least 5p a litre cheaper.

“It’s surely impossible to argue that competition is working properly if prices are so vastly different in two parts of the UK. We continue to call on the biggest retailers to play fair with drivers and lower their prices to match what’s being charged in Northern Ireland.

“We also urge Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho, who is on a mission to bring greater transparency to fuel pricing following the Competition and Markets Authority’s investigation concluding drivers were overcharged to the tune of £900 million in 2022, to ask the supermarkets why they won’t charge similar prices to the averages seen across Northern