Petrol prices to jump for record £1.23 a litre 'in weeks', warns AA

The double whammy would add 7p to pump prices, compared with the current 1.16 average.

The AA said rises in the cost of petrol supplied to forecourts could push prices up to 1.20 – or 5.41 a gallon. A fuel duty increase to be introduced by the government on 1 April would add 3p.

It has called for the duty rise to be delayed and for an inquiry into wholesale price rises at a time when crude oil is far below its peak cost. The AA suspects the blame lies with stock market traders, and the weak pound, because oil is traded in dollars.

The feared rises would push petrol beyond the record average of 119.7p for unleaded in July 2008. It fell to 98.1p six months later.

AA president Edmund King said: "The UK is barely out of recession, yet petrol prices threaten to rise to records seen during the boom of 2008 – shortly before the collapse into recession. If families, drivers on fixed incomes and those on low pay were unable to cope with record prices then, they are even less likely to now."

The AA said an average family with two cars was paying 52 a month more to fill up now than a year ago. It said the increase was threatened by a 17 per cent rise in wholesale prices since late January.

The average petrol price in Scotland on Monday was 117.5p for a litre of unleaded – compared with 116.1p across the UK – and 116.6p for a litre of diesel, according to price comparison website PetrolPrices.com. AA figures due out on Friday put unleaded at 116p across Scotland.

The SNP renewed its call for a fuel duty regulator, which would freeze rates if oil prices increased, while extra VAT raised from higher pump prices would be channelled back into cutting duty. Western Isles MP Angus MacNeil said petrol had already reached 1.25 in his constituency.

The Institute of Advanced Motorists backed an inquiry. Policy and research director Neil Greig said: "With prices already above 1.20 a litre in the Highlands and Islands, the whole topic of fuel support for rural areas must also be moved up the political agenda as a matter of priority."

PetrolPrices.com founder Brendan McLoughlin said: "I would echo the AA's calls for the government to look at what is driving wholesale prices up. The pound is now in a weak place, and while the price of everything, including fuel, is rising, people's pay is not."

However, Colin Howden, director of transport campaign group Transform Scotland, said: " If there is an inequity the government should be tackling, it is public transport prices – as these have risen substantially more than the price of car use."

Jason Durden: Prices likely to surpass the levels seen in 2008