Motorists think twice about fuel prices

UK drivers are thinking twice about taking to the roads, research from the AA has revealed. After polling 17,500 of its members, the organisation found 27 per cent had cut back on other areas of spending, 16 per cent had decided to travel less by car, and 21 per cent had done both.

To add to motorists' woes, the Petrol Retailers Association says that average prices could go up by as much as five pence a litre by the weekend.

"I expect that motorists and diesel users in particular are going to pay more at the pumps in the coming weeks, possibly as soon as the bank holiday, from where they are now," said Ray Holloway, director of the Petrol Retailers Association.

"The simple reason is that the wholesale price of oil sent diesel up three pence last week and there's more to come."

The average price of a litre of unleaded petrol in the UK is currently 113.01p, while the average diesel price is 124.87p.

Average figures from just three months ago show the sharp increase in dramatic terms, where unleaded was 104.02p and diesel was 109.30p.

The only good news was that traffic had indeed fallen by two per cent from the same period in 2007. As fuel prices accelerate, as a result of the rising price of oil, experts believe this figure will increase.