Data from RAC shows unleaded fell from 130.61p to 125.43p last month, while diesel dropped from 136.93p to 134.42p, marking the first major price reduction since June.

The cost of filling up a family-sized car with 55 litres of unleaded at the end of November stood at £68.98 – a saving of £2.85 on a month ago. The equivalent for a diesel vehicle is £73.19 which translates to £1.38 less for a tank since the end of October.

However, despite the positive news at the pumps, drivers were still overcharged by 10p a litre for unleaded and 7p for diesel, according to the RAC’s analysis of wholesale fuel prices.

The motoring group said average prices should fall considerably over the next fortnight “if retailers play fair”.

RAC fuel spokesperson Simon Williams said: “The oil price plummeted by 24% throughout November which proved to be positive for motorists – indeed we haven’t seen such a large drop in average prices in nearly four years

“Having finished October at $75, a barrel of crude ended the month only costing $57 which sent wholesale prices tumbling even though the value of sterling dropped by 2%.

“This should have translated to the average price of petrol being around 120p a litre, but retailers chose not to pass on the savings meaning the current average still remains unnecessarily high at 125.43p.

“Based on our data, petrol still ought to come down by 7p a litre in the next two weeks and diesel by 5p. While this seems unlikely based on retailers’ current track record, we can only hope they are planning some cuts in the run-up to Christmas with a view to getting more shoppers into their stores.”

According to the RAC, in the last six years retailers have not taken this much margin from selling a litre of petrol over such a protracted length of time