July saw the return of rising petrol and diesel prices at the forecourt, with both petrol and diesel edging up by around 1p a litre, said RAC Fuel Watch.
Last month saw the continuation of recent ‘see-saw’ pump price changes – while drivers were stung with one of the worst petrol price rises through May 2018, the following month saw average prices fall by around 2p a litre. This began to be reversed in July meanwhile, with a litre of unleaded up by 1.08p (127.72p to 128.8p) in the month and diesel up by 1.03p (130.82p to 131.85p)
Data shows that it was supermarkets that increased their prices the most in July, largely cancelling out the price cuts that they introduced just a few weeks earlier in June. The price of an average litre of supermarket unleaded was up 1.64p to 125.34p, while diesel was up 1.62p to 128.88p. Motorway service areas, which tend to charge to the most for fuel, increased the price of a litre of petrol by 1.19p to 146.09p, but left diesel almost unchanged at 148.14p.
Across the UK, it now costs drivers on average £70.84 to fill up a 55-litre family-sized petrol car (up 59p on June), and £72.52 for a similar diesel model (up 57p on June).