Petrol prices have fallen to their lowest in more than two years, the RAC has said.
A litre of unleaded petrol now costs 142.57p on average at the pumps, a price not seen since the end of October 2021.
That is about 10p a litre cheaper than in the run-up to last Christmas and about 14p less than the litre price two months ago. Diesel prices have not fallen.
In October, fuel prices spiked, with petrol rising by about 13p a litre between June and mid-October to 156.1p. Diesel prices surged by about 18p to 162.4p a litre in the same period.
The RAC fuel spokesperson, Simon Williams, said this was one of the busiest times of year on the roads.
He said: “This is good news for drivers, especially as prices should continue to come down in the run-up to Christmas, due to the wholesale price being significantly lower.
“While the biggest retailers haven’t announced any headline-grabbing big cuts, prices are falling steadily every day, which is encouraging. We just have to hope this continues in the coming days.
“If wholesale prices are reflected more fairly at the pumps, we should see the average price of petrol drop below 140p in the next week. While diesel isn’t at similar low point … it’s still down from last Christmas’s dizzying prices of around 175p a litre.”
In October, Claire Coutinho, the energy secretary, said the government would “not hesitate to call out retailers who rip off the public” by not passing on lower wholesale prices to motorists buying fuel at the pumps.
An investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority found in July that fuel retailers had overcharged motorists by £900m last year.
