The price of unleaded has rocketed from 114.5p a year ago, adding £15 to the cost of filling up a 55-litre family car
Petrol prices within the UK have hit a record high in what the RAC has described as a “truly dark day for drivers”.
The average daily price per litre had hit 142.94p on Sunday in data that was reported on Monday morning by RAC/Experian Catalist, which is a separate figure from the weekly average record price that was reported by the government.
According to RAC Fuel Watch, the price of unleaded fuel has rocketed by 28p per litre in a year from 114.5p in October of 2020, adding £15 to the total cost of filling up a 55-litre family car.
This comes after Dominic Raab has told LBC that he wants to draft in British ex-offenders and existing prisoners in order to support the economy instead of relying on foreign labour’s “old addiction”.
It comes as oil prices worldwide have continued to climb, with the benchmark Brent crude increasing by 56 cents, or 0.7%, to $86.09 a barrel, following on from last Friday’s gain of 1.1%.
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “This is truly a dark day for drivers, and one which we hoped we wouldn’t see again after the high prices of April 2012. This will hurt many household budgets and no doubt have knock-on implications for the wider economy.
“The big question now is: where will it stop and what price will petrol hit? If oil gets to $100 a barrel, we could very easily see the average price climb to 150p a litre.
He continued by saying:
“Even though many people aren’t driving quite as much as they have in the past due to the pandemic, drivers tell us they are more reliant on their cars now than they have been in years, and many simply don’t have a choice but to drive.
“There’s a risk those on lower incomes who have to drive to work will seriously struggle to find the extra money for the petrol they so badly need.
“We urge the government to help ease the burden at the pumps by temporarily reducing VAT, and for the biggest retailers to bring the amount they make on every litre of petrol back down to the level it was prior to the pandemic.”
This comes after Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has insisted that there will not be another nationwide lockdown following an NHS leader warning the Prime Minister that ‘Plan B’ Covid restrictions must be enforced immediately in order to prevent the country from “stumbling into a winter crisis”.
The previous record was 142.48p back in April of 2012.
And the situation is unlikely to improve soon, with analysts forecasting Brent crude prices to remain high for the rest of the year.
India and France are also among the countries to have seen record highs in recent days, although, like in the UK, petrol prices are inflated by massive fuel taxes.
In the UK, tax accounts for 57% of the average retail price for a litre of petrol, according to the RAC.
