Drivers being 'seriously overcharged' with fuel prices soaring

• Average price of petrol increased by 3p to 150p per litre in April alone

Drivers are being ‘seriously overcharged’ as average fuel prices have risen by 10p a litre this year.

The average price of a litre of petrol increased by 3p to 150p in April alone, the RAC said.

Average diesel prices rose by 2p per litre to 157.8p last month.

Wholesale oil prices have risen a little this year, and the exchange rate is not currently favourable for imports to Britain.

But retailers’ margins have also risen during this period, RAC research shows, and are well above long-term averages.

Average fuel prices have risen by 10p a litre this year, with petrol costs rising by 3p in April alone

The motoring organisation is calling on the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) – an independent non-ministerial Government department – to address ‘glaring issues’ with fuel retailing.

It wants the regulator – which is responsible for monitoring prices – to tackle ‘unfair retailer margins which lead to drivers getting a raw deal’.

The RAC called on the biggest fuel retailers to end the ‘postcode lottery’ which means some companies charge ‘wildly different prices’ across locations.

It said there is still too much so-called rocket and feather pricing, where pump prices surge when wholesale costs rise, but fall slowly when wholesale costs decline.

It also said fuel prices across Britain should reduce to levels in Northern Ireland, where they are consistently 5p per litre cheaper.

Despite the CMA expressing concern about retailer margins earlier this year, the average margins for a litre of petrol and diesel is 9.5p and 17.5p respectively, according to the RAC.

The long-term average margin for both fuels is around 8p.

The RAC is calling on the Competition and Markets Authority to intervene to stop drivers from ‘getting a raw deal’ from ‘unfair’ retail margins

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: ‘Drivers are once again having to dig deep just to go about their daily lives.

‘Our data shows petrol and diesel have now gone up 10p a litre so far this year on the back of further increases in April of 3p and 2p respectively.

‘Some of this is down to the oil price and the pound-to-dollar exchange rate making wholesale petrol more expensive for retailers to buy.

‘But unfortunately, it’s also very apparent that retailers are making massive margins on diesel.

‘Worryingly, the CMA’s warning shot about higher retailer margins at the end of March appears to have fallen on deaf ears, meaning drivers are once again being seriously overcharged for diesel.’

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