PETROL costs jumped by more than £3 per typical tank in the past month following record lows during lockdown.
In the month to mid-July, the average pump price of petrol jumped by nearly 6p a litre, from 108.01p to 113.73p a litre.
With 55 litres in a typical car fuel tank, the increase has added £3.15 to the cost of filling up, according to AA's latest fuel price report.
In the same period, diesel went up by 4.76p on average, from 112.75p to 117.51p a litre.
This means a trip to the ful station for a motorist with a 55-litre diesel tank is now £2.62 pricier than a month ago.
It comes as oil and wholesale costs bounce back from lockdown lows.
Ways to cut down on your fuel costs
HERE are some tips on how you can slash the cost of fuel
- Make your car more fuel-efficient. You can do this by keeping your tyres inflated, taking the roof rack off, emptying your car of clutter and turning off your air con when driving at lower speeds.
- Find the cheapest fuel prices. PetrolPrices.com and Confused.com allows you to search prices of UK petrol stations. All you need to do is enter in your postcode and tell it how far you want to travel (up to 20 miles).
- Drive more efficiently. Some ways to do this, include:
- Accelerate gradually without over-revving
- Always drive on the highest possible gear
- If you can, allow your car to slow down naturally as your brake is a money burner
- Re-starting your car is expensive, if you can keep moving
In May, Morrisons cut the price of petrol to below £1 per litre for the first time since 2016, and it was quickly followed by Asda and Tesco.
This represented the first time petrol was sold nationally for under £1 since the 2008 financial crisis.
It followed a crash in the prices of crude oil, which had plummeted to negative figures for the first time in history due to coronavirus.
Despite the latest price rise, motorists can still save cash by filling up at the big four supermarkets and at motorway service stations, AA said.
Motorway forecourts are typically some of the most expensive places to top up, but a sharp fall in drivers since March has sent costs crashing.
Some of the locations with cheap highway fuel are Donington Park on the M1 near Derby, Lancaster on the M6, Frankley at the northern end of the M5 near Birmingham, Tiverton at the southern end of the M5 and Hopwood Park on the M42 near Birmingham.
A comparison of average pump prices by retail brands shows the major supermarkets average petrol prices within a penny of each other and 6.4p cheaper than the oil companies.
To find out where the cheapest petrol stations are located near you, compare prices on Petrolprices.com or Confused.com.
Another way to get the cheapest fuel is by locating places where there are many stations close together, as the competition usually drives down prices too, according to Petrolprices.
Or if you live in a posh area, drive to a less posh one as you may find that prices are a few pence a litre lower there too.
Luke Bosdet, the AA’s spokesman on fuel prices, said: "Sadly, there are still some motorway forecourts selling petrol at ridiculously high prices above 130p a litre.
"These continue to fuel the drivers’ general view that you fill up on the motorway only if you are desperate.
Bosdet added: “Overall, with more competitive pricing among supermarkets and out on the highways, post-lockdown pump prices have been shooting up again."
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