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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
SWNS reporter

Drivers queue for hours at Britain’s cheapest petrol station

SWNS

British drivers are queuing for hours to save 25p a litre at the “cheapest petrol station” in the country.

Aerial pictures show a massive queue of cars snaking down the road to discount retail park Trago Mills in Newton Abbot, Devon, where fuel costs £1.64 a litre - almost 25p cheaper than the national average of 189.5p, according to the RAC.

The Shell petrol station has the cheapest fuel in the UK, according to fuel watch - and was so busy today an attendant was on hand to guide cars in and out.

Diesel is selling for 179.9p, compared to the national average of 198.42p across the country.

Their price for unleaded petrol has still seen an increase - having been 153.9 in April 2022 - but is now the cheapest in the UK.

A motorist could drive 50 miles, or make a 100 mile round trip, to buy petrol at 164.9p and still make a saving compared with the average price, based on the average car managing 11.57 miles per litre of fuel.

The bargain revelation comes after drivers were hit by a record monthly petrol price hike in June.

RAC analysis shows the average cost of a litre of the fuel at UK forecourts rose by 16.6p last month, from 174.8p to 191.4p.

( SWNS)

That is the highest monthly increase in records dating back to 2000.

The surge in prices added more than £9 to the cost of filling a typical 55-litre family petrol car.

Average diesel prices rose by 15.6p per litre, ending the month at 199.1p.

The RAC said higher pump prices were expected at the start of June due to the cost of oil rising in response to increased demand and continued supply concerns relating to the war in Ukraine.

But five consecutive weeks of falling wholesale costs have not been reflected at the pumps.

Retailers have doubled their average profit margins from a long-term figure of around 6p per litre to 12p per litre, according to the RAC.

The organisation’s fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “The rate at which pump prices have been rising over the last four weeks is hard to comprehend.

“Not a day in June went by when petrol prices didn’t go up, even though the price retailers pay to buy in fuel went down.

“There’s no doubt that drivers are getting an incredibly raw deal at the pumps at a time when the cost-of-living crisis is being felt ever more acutely.”

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