The cost of a litre of unleaded petrol fell to 144.95p on Sunday, the lowest price recorded since 3 November 2021.

The cost of diesel also fell to below 155p a litre at the weekend, its lowest price since 28 February 2022. This brings the cost of filling a 55-litre family car with petrol to £79.72 and £84.87 for diesel.

Petrol prices peaked at 191.5p on 3 July 2022 and have now fallen by 47p a litre, saving drivers an average of £25.60 every time they fill up their cars.

For diesel drivers, costs peaked at 199.09p on 25 June last year and have now fallen by 45p, saving drivers £24.62 per tank.

Fuel prices have been consistently falling for the past year, after shooting up shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Yet many motoring groups have accused retailers of not passing savings onto drivers. The RAC, who compiled the pricing data, recently said diesel was at least 16p per litre more expensive than it should be.

When looking at this week’s prices, the RAC said diesel drivers are now paying 20p per litre more than they should because retailers are not passing on wholesale savings.

‘Drivers should be paying 20p a litre less’

RAC fuel spokesman, Simon Williams, said: “While it’s good news diesel has also dropped below 155p a litre for this first time since the end of February last year, drivers of the UK’s 12 million diesel cars and countless businesses who rely on it to fuel their vehicle should be paying 20p a litre less as its wholesale price is now 4p lower than petrol’s.

“This is being demonstrated very powerfully by one independent retailer in Shropshire who is currently charging 131.9p – more than 22p below the UK average. We hope this finally embarrasses the country’s biggest retailers to cut their pump prices significantly.”