Are you being ripped off by your petrol station?

male hand refilling the car with fuel on a filling station
male hand refilling the car with fuel on a filling station



Some drivers are paying hundreds of pounds a year more for their fuel, simply because of where they live.

In some parts of the country, petrol costs as much as 90p a gallon more than in others - meaning that the drivers in the most expensive areas are paying an average of £220 more a year.

According to PetrolPrices.com, the dearest petrol station in the country is located in Argyll, charging 125.9p per litre for petrol and 125.1p for diesel.

Woolacombe, in Devon, is next dearest, followed by Freshwater, on the Isle of Wight and Benbecula in the Western Isles.

At the other end of the scale, the cheapest petrol is to be found in Tilbury, Essex, at 103.9p, with diesel 104.5p. Loanhead, Midlothian and Dukinfield, in greater Manchester, are next.

Luxury petrol station for the super rich

Some of the high prices - such as those on islands - are clearly down to the areas' remoteness. However, there's more to it than that, according to PetrolPrices.com managing director Jason Lloyd.

"Stations tend to charge more where average earnings are higher," he tells AutoExpress. Prices also tend to be higher in areas with less competition - particularly where there is no supermarket petrol station.

Petrol and diesel prices rose by 3p a litre in December, says the RAC, bringing them to their highest level since July 2015. Unleaded petrol hit an average of 117.23p a litre on 29 December and diesel 119.63p.

It now costs £8 more for a tank of petrol than it did at the same time last year, and £10 more for diesel.

Drivers hit with most expensive petrol prices in more than two years

"We are optimistic that prices will not increase by another 3p a litre in January based on what's going on with oil and wholesale fuel now, but if in the months ahead the barrel price was to get nearer to $60 and the pound was to weaken further then that would be the worst possible combination for motorists," says RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams.

"Our current forecast for the next two weeks is for petrol to be around the 118p mark and for diesel to go up to around 121p a litre. We should also say that we need the pound not to lose any more value against the dollar as fuel, like oil, is traded in dollars."

Petrol and food prices expected to spark rise in inflation figures

Five highest prices (PetrolPrices)
Acharacle, Argyll: 125.9ppl (petrol)/125.1ppl (diesel)
Tighnabruaich, Argyll: 124.6ppl/124.5ppl
Woolacombe, Devon: 122.9ppl/125.1ppl
Freshwater, Isle of Wight: 121.8ppl/120.8ppl
Isle of Benbecula, Western Isles: 121.3ppl/121.2ppl

Five lowest prices
Tilbury, Essex : 103.9ppl/104.5ppl
Spennymoor, County Durham: 105.3ppl/106.7ppl
Loanhead, Midlothian: 105.5ppl/106.7ppl
Dukinfield, Cheshire: 105.7ppl/106.7ppl
Hornsea, East Yorkshire: 105.8ppl/107.3ppl




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