The price of petrol and diesel at the pumps has reached record levels in Britain, but the price is falling in Europe, the AA has said.
The motoring group urged supermarkets and other garage forecourts to pass on falling wholesale petrol prices to customers, as European suppliers had done.
The average petrol price in mid-February reached an all-time high of 128.81p a litre, up 0.54p a litre from mid-January. Diesel has also reached a new record high of 134.01p a litre, a rise of 1.26p from mid-January, the AA said.
It said that these rises came despite a 2p drop in the market cost of petrol.
European petrol prices went down in line with a dip in north west Europe wholesale costs of petrol.
It added that even with wholesale prices climbing a little in February, the European average petrol pump price on February 7 was 3 per cent lower than three weeks before, while in the UK, petrol cost 0.8 per cent more and reached new record highs.
Northern Ireland has the most expensive UK petrol, at 129.9p a litre, and diesel at 135p.
The AA said supermarket fuel prices varied by up to 4p a litre, with costs something of a “postcode lottery”.
AA President Edmund King said: “Whether retailers are trying to compensate for lower volumes of sales or supermarkets are choosing to convert fuel-cost savings into cut-price lavatory cleaner offers is irrelevant
“European fuel retailers, including France with its aggressive supermarket pricing, are under similar strains yet they passed on much of the wholesale petrol price reduction. They also reduced diesel prices for a while.”
He went on: “With record fuel prices a key influence on rising inflation, the AA again calls for a published track of wholesale versus pump prices, as is available in the US, Australia and South East Asia.
“It is time that the retailers recognised that greater price transparency will protect their interests, the consumers’ and the Government’s.”
Many are hoping that George Osborne, the Chancellor will use next month’s budget to introduce a fuel price stabiliser and, possibly, scrap any above-inflation duty rises.
