Supermarket chain Tesco joined the pump wars yesterday and slashed petrol prices by 6.5p a litre.
And it cut diesel by 4.5p a litre after Asda fired the first salvo last week when it knocked a total of 9p a litre from unleaded and 7p off diesel over the week.
It brought the cost of its petrol down to 174p a litre and diesel to 185p.
Average UK prices are 182.69p a litre for unleaded, down by 3.68p week-on week and 192.38p a litre for diesel, down by 2.87p over the same period.
Ashwin Prasad, Tesco’s chief product officer said: “We hope that these price cuts will go some way to help.”
But the AA said drivers are still paying over the odds to fill up as wholesale prices have fallen in the past week and suggested with the 5p VAT reduction the price could be 165p.
And RAC spokesman Simon Williams said: “The reductions so far are too little and too late, given the massive wholesale price drops retailers have been benefiting from for nearly two months.”
The RAC revealed the UK Government’s 5p a litre fuel tax cut has been eclipsed by most European countries such as Germany where it was cut by 25p.
Mr Williams said compared to the other countries in Europe, Britain has “pretty much done the least to support drivers”.
