Wheels come off as petrol hits £6 a gallon

Published on Wednesday 9 March 2011 16:46

MOTORING groups have warned "the wheels have started to come off mobility" after petrol prices hit a new UK record average of £6 a gallon - or 132.12p a litre.

The Automobile Association said the latest hike of nearly 2p a litre in a week had come after the price had reached new highs virtually every day this year.

Diesel has also increased to a new record UK average of 137.92p.

AA president Edmund King said: "6 a gallon is not just another milestone along the road to higher fuel prices, it marks the point at which the wheels start to come off mobility in 21st century UK.

"Lower-income drivers, poorer rural residents, volunteer drivers, youngsters looking to their first jobs are some of the vulnerable groups struggling to stay on the road."

The AA said a family with two petrol cars had seen their monthly fuel cost increasing from 242.70 a year ago to 280.54 now.

It said the price of petrol had risen 6.93p a litre since the start of the year, and 1.68p a litre in the past week. A year ago, a litre of petrol on average cost 114.30p a litre and diesel was 115.31p.

A survey by communications firm Virgin Media Business published today showed car commuters in Edinburgh and Glasgow spend nearly 5,000 a year on travelling - the equivalent of more than three months' pay for those earning 25,000.

Managing director Mark Heraghty said: "The thought of spending a fifth of your salary on commuting to work is enough to drive most people up the wall, but every year millions of us are doing just that." Last week, The Scotsman revealed far higher than average prices at island filling stations, with diesel at 163.3p in Colonsay and 160p on Eday in Orkney.

Mr King said: "Over the past two years, the AA has warned that unbridled speculation in the oil markets and a constant drip of fuel tax rises would haemorrhage family finances to the point that it would damage the local and wider economy.

"Middle East troubles have brought matters to a head, but the writing's been on the wall for months and only now are the government and business analysts taking notice. The government must act urgently to reduce the burden of high fuel duty and VAT.

"In the meantime, drivers are going to have to manage as best as they can, by cutting out journeys, driving more economically and hoping that a stronger pound will cushion some of the blow. But these high prices are already leaving casualties among drivers, consumers and business."Chancellor George Osborne hinted at the weekend he would scrap the fuel duty hike in the Budget in two weeks, which the AA fears could push up prices by another 4p a litre. The UK government has also applied to the European Union to launch a pilot scheme to cut 5p a litre off fuel in the Scottish islands.

Neil Greig, policy and research director of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said: "With no end in sight for price rises, the case for scrapping the fuel duty increase in the budget becomes overwhelming."

Royal Automobile Club Foundation spokesman Philip Gomm said: "Households already spend more on transport than anything else, and that includes food, mortgage or entertainment. The latest hike in prices just adds to the burden.

"It will be the poorest households which feel the greatest pain from this rise.

"The least well-off drivers spend most as a percentage of their income on motoring and now they will be spending that bit more.

"People long ago gave up driving for fun. If we did not use our cars then we would not be able to go about our daily lives.

"There is a real danger car owners - especially the least wealthy - will be priced off the roads and that is bad news for them and for the economy."