Motorists are paying the highest fuel prices for three-and-a-half years prompting many to cut back on car use or other spending, according to figures from the AA.
The motoring organisaton said average petrol prices had jumped to just over 126p per litre this week and diesel to just below 129p, both the steepest price since October 2014.
That was up from 121p and 124p in mid-April.
It comes after the price of Brent crude oil climbed above $80 a barrel this week for the first time since November 2014, amid some predictions that it will go up to $100.
That rise was driven by supply fears partly caused by the US pulling out of an international nuclear deal with Iran.
AA president Edmund King said: “AA research has shown that nearly two in every five drivers are already cutting back on car use, non-fuel spending or both.”
The motoring organisation said an “astonishing gap” had opened up between the prices being charged by supermarkets for petrol and those charged at oil companies’ forecourts.
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It said the supermarkets were on average 5p a litre cheaper, for only the second time since a price war in 2015 that pushed prices down to £1 a litre.
That was because most non-supermarket retailers were quick to pass on cost increases to their customers, the AA said.
Source: Sky