The average price of unleaded has climbed to 185.44p per litre – up from 185.04p per litre on Sunday.

This means drivers filling up an average 55-litre family car will now pay £102.

Meanwhile diesel drivers will now pay an average of 191.21p per litre, up from 190.92 a day earlier. This takes a complete fill up to over £105.

RAC fuel spokesperson, Simon Williams, said: “Despite the wholesale price of petrol peaking on the first of the month prices are likely to rise further this week as the wholesale cost has averaged 150p a litre in the last week which means – when you add 7p retailer margin and 20% VAT – it’s likely to continue to rise towards 188p a litre. To put things into perspective in April, the unleaded delivered wholesale price averaged 123p a litre and in May it was 139p.

“The situation for diesel, however, is far worse as the delivered wholesale price has averaged a record 158p a litre over the last week which puts the UK average price on a collision course with 198p a litre when retailer margin and VAT are factored in. To change this upward trajectory we badly need the cost of a barrel of oil to drop or the pound to gain ground on the dollar.

“It remains the case that urgent government action is required to lessen the overwhelming tax impact caused by a combination of fuel duty and VAT which currently accounts for nearly 84p in every litre bought – or £46 a tank.”

Yesterday the Competition and Markets Authority confirmed it would review the fuel market following business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng’s request amid competition and price concerns.