Cash-strapped South Yorkshire motorists hit by £11 fuel price rise to fill up family car

Cash-strapped South Yorkshire motorists are forking out more than £11 more to fill up a family car with fuel today than they did a year ago - at around £66 for a tank of petrol.
Fuel prices.Fuel prices.
Fuel prices.

That is according to the RAC which slammed the 2p a litre rise as 'unjustified' after revealing wholesale diesel prices actually dropped by 1p last month while unleaded remained static.

The organisation is now calling for fuel price cuts as thousands in the region are squeezed at the forecourt.

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Compared with a year ago, car owners are having to shell out £9.53 more to fill up an average family hatchback with unleaded while diesel drivers are paying £11.69 a tank more.

The RAC is now demanding a 1p a litre price cut and said 'the cost of filling up is really starting to hurt motorists again.'

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “The January rise is harder to swallow as there is a saving from wholesale prices that retailers should be passing on a little faster than they are.

“A cut in oil production and the poor exchange rate are excuses being used when diesel wholesale prices have come down and unleaded has remained the same.

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“There is no justification for the rise - motorists should be aggrieved by the 2p a litre jump.”

On average, a litre of unleaded now costs 120p compared with 117.9p at the start of 2017 and diesel is 122.3p a litre compared with 120.35p.

Year-on-year, unleaded has soared by 17p a litre when it was 102.69p in January 2016 while diesel prices have rocketed by 21p a litre from 101.05p.

Campaign group FairFuelUK is now calling on the Government to set up a fuel price watchdog.

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And the AA said the sky high cost of filling up meant millions would be forced to cut back on road trips. Its research found more than a quarter of drivers spend a set amount on petrol, rising to four in ten for those on low incomes.