Price of diesel hits record high of 143.05p

The price of diesel at the pumps has reached record levels, the UK’s biggest motoring group said yesterday.

The average UK price is now 143.05p a litre – climbing past the previous high of 143.04p a litre reached last May.

The new high was announced hours after the Automobile Association’s monthly fuel price report showed diesel had reached 142.8p on Monday

The pump price of diesel fell back to 137.59p last July before starting to climb again. Two years ago, diesel in the UK averaged 113.62p a litre.

The AA said that for a commercial van with an 80-litre fuel tank, the cost of filling up has risen from £90.90 in February 2010, to £114.44 now, having dropped to £110.07 in July this year.

Over the same period, the average price of petrol was 112.03p a litre two years ago and set a new record of 137.43p on May 5, 2011.

Since then, it fell to 132.25p a litre at the beginning of January 2012, before starting the climb to the latest average of 135.39p.

AA president Edmund King said: “A stronger pound has staved off this moment for longer than might have been expected, but diesel drivers across the country will have been watching in trepidation.

“They hoped that below-record prices would hold until the spring, when winter price pressures on diesel traditionally ease.

“However, the impact of record diesel prices will be felt by everyone as higher transport costs are passed on to business and consumers.”

RAC spokesman John Franklin said: “Drivers continue to be hit hard in their pockets during these tough economic times.

“With a further 3p-a-litre fuel duty rise planned in August, we hope the Chancellor will take a look at this in the Budget.”