The price of fuel should have fallen 4p a litre but hasn't because of greedy retailers, it has been claimed. Despite the UK being in the grip of a cost-of-living crisis, a reduction in fuel duty of 5p in March and a recent fall in wholesale prices of oil hasn't been passed onto motorists, said the AA.
A new record price of 191.5p a litre was set on Sunday. Motoring services companies accused retailers of acting too slowly and not going far enough with price cuts.
Luke Bosdet, the AA’s fuel price spokesman, told The Telegraph : “Even commentators in the fuel trade say that their pump prices should be falling 4p in the next few days."
Read more: Full list of North East Asda stores where drivers can save £5 this week
Mr Bosdet said earlier this week: "Falling pump prices provide the first piece of good news in this cost-of-living crisis, but the reductions should be much bigger and should have started last week if not sooner. The question now is how much of the potential saving will be passed on to the consumer," reports BirminghamLive.
"As usual, the fuel trade shows itself very reluctant to pass on lower costs and give relief to hard-pressed motorists."
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: "With oil dropping by $10 a barrel (recently) causing wholesale prices of both petrol and diesel to fall further, even more pressure is now on the supermarkets to act and treat drivers fairly.
"We can guarantee retailers will be rushing to buy new stock today at these low prices, but they will no doubt still remain reluctant to reduce their forecourt prices. If we don't see a significant supermarket cut in the next few days it will be nothing short of scandalous.
"And, even if retailers eventually do the right thing, we still need further help from the Government to make the cost of driving more affordable as so many people are being financially impacted by the record high prices. Perhaps a change at No 11 will finally lead to the fuel tax cuts we've been calling for."
British motorists, furious at the soaring price of fuel, staged a go slow' protest on July 4 causing large tailbacks. Meanwhile Tory leadership hopefuls have said they'll slash unpopular fuel duty if they become Prime Minister.
Penny Mordaunt, runner up to Rishi Sunak in the first round of voting and emerging as a possible favourite to win the race, has said she'll halve VAT on petrol and diesel, which would see pump prices fall by between 15p and 20p a litre.
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