Drivers plunge petrol sales to record low

Motorists refuel their cars at an Asda petrol station at Straiton, Loanhead. Picture: Ian Georgeson

It was also 4 per cent less than a year ago, when prices were nearly 15p a litre higher than the current UK average of 114.24p.

The cheapest fuel in Edinburgh is 110.9p and 111.7p in Glasgow, the petrolprices.com website showed today.

The AA said sales of diesel, which is also used by lorries, buses and trains, increased slightly since last year, but declined last month on February.

AA spokesman Luke Bosdet said: “Fine weather, low pump prices and households turning down their heating should have been recipe for a revival in pump sales. Instead, the opposite happened.

“A more than 5p-a-litre leap in petrol pump prices, from a low of 106.39p at the start of February, is to blame – resurrecting the price-spike fears that have dogged drivers for the past seven years.

“Yesterday, petrol averaged 114.24p a litre, nearly 8p a litre higher than two and a half months ago.

“The continued sensitivity of families and businesses to pump price volatility is a warning to political parties considering an increase in fuel duty after the election.”