Yahoo Finance UK petrol prices hit £100 to fill up a car
The price of filling a tank of petrol has hit £100 for the first time as the cost of living crisis deepens.
RAC fuel spokesperson Simon Williams said: "It's a truly dark day today for drivers with petrol now crossing the thoroughly depressing threshold of £100 a tank (£100.27p). A complete diesel fill-up now costs £103.43.
"With average prices so high — 182.31p for a litre of unleaded and 188.05p for diesel — there's almost certainly going to be upward inflationary pressure, which is bad news for everybody."
He called on chancellor Rishi Sunak to do more to tackle rising fuel costs.
Read more: UK petrol prices could hit £2 a litre this summer, RAC warns
“We (motoring organisations) all want to see something happen with fuel, we don’t want it to be this high.
“People have a need to drive in this country and what we need really is the chancellor to take action and either further reduce duty or cut VAT because VAT at the moment equates to 30 pence a litre.
“The higher the price goes at wholesale level, the higher the VAT take from the Treasury.”
Soaring fuel prices have been driven by the war in Ukraine and moves to reduce Europe's dependence on Russian oil.
AA fuel price spokesman Luke Bosdet said: “The £100 petrol tank has been dreaded and been particularly nasty for workers refilling their cars with the post-jubilee return to work.
“The more than 8p-a-litre leap in average petrol costs over a week has been a huge shock.”
He added that the threat of average prices reaching £2 per litre “has receded” due to wholesale costs levelling off.
The rise follows Wednesday's increase, which was the largest daily jump in 17 years, according to the RAC.
Read more: Sunak warned another support package will be needed before winter
Andy Marchant, traffic expert at location technology firm TomTom, said: With soaring gasoline prices continuing to have a significant impact on drivers of combustion engine vehicles — despite the profits of the big energy giants that continue to thrive — the idea of switching to electric vehicles is becoming increasingly attractive."
Fuel retailers failing to pass on the fuel duty cut could be named and shamed after the largest daily jump in petrol prices for 17 years, Downing Street has indicated.
The levelling up secretary told Sky News the government “keep[s] under review” measures to help people with the cost of living.
Michael Gove also stressed the government wants to make sure petrol retailers pass on the existing fuel duty cut.
