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Drivers hit with second worst monthly petrol price rise since 2000

Joanna Faith
Written By:
Joanna Faith
Posted:
Updated:
08/05/2019

Average petrol prices petrol rocketed by more than 5p a litre in April, the second worst monthly rise since 2000.

A litre of unleaded shot up from 122.62p to 128.06p, adding £3 to the cost of filling up an average family car, according to data from the RAC.

Unleaded rose every single day from the end of March to 24 April.

Retailers passed on wholesale price increases making April one of the bleakest months for petrol prices in nearly 20 years.

The price leap was second only to May 2018 when petrol jumped 6p a litre 123.43p to 129.41p.

It marked the third consecutive month of price rises, meaning unleaded has gone up 8.5p a litre from 119.54p to 128.06p since the beginning of February.

Diesel also increased by 3p a litre from 130.70p to 133.70p.

The four big supermarket fuel retailers – Asda, Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury’s –increased their petrol prices above the UK average, the RAC said.

Their average for unleaded went up by 5.58p a litre compared with the UK average price which rose by 5.44p.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “Despite the good weather April turned out to be one of the bleakest months ever for drivers with the second biggest monthly rise in the price of petrol for nearly 20 years.

“RAC Fuel Watch data shows the price of unleaded rose every single day from the end of March for three and half weeks (until 24 April), which is the longest run of daily price rises since May last year when unleaded increased 6p a litre setting a new monthly price rise record dating back to 2000.

“The bad news for drivers is that a tank of petrol now costs £3 more than it did at the start of April. This will have a damaging effect on household budgets across the country and will inevitably mean there will be less money available for non-essential spending.”