Drivers have been warned supermarkets are not always the cheapest for topping up with petrol and diesel.
The RAC has called out the "Big Four" retailers - Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s - for not passing lower fuel prices on to their customers and not cutting prices quickly enough.
Right now, the average price of petrol is 178.93p per litre and the RAC said the wholesale cost of petrol has fallen by 20p since early June. However, UK retailers only dropped pump prices by an average of 9p during July.
READ MORE: Tesco and Asda slash the prices of diesel and petrol after criticism for high costs
The RAC believes the biggest retailers’ failure to reduce petrol pump prices in line with the drop in the wholesale price of unleaded has cost drivers almost £9 more to fill up. Drivers are being urged to compare prices of fuel to make sure they're getting the most for their money.
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: "It's highly likely you'll find an independent retailer which is doing the right thing and fairly reflecting their lower wholesale costs by charging a lower price.
"This is really encouraging because the independents buy new stock less frequently than the supermarkets as they don't sell as much, and consequently aren't as well positioned as their rivals to be able to snap up fuel at lower prices when there are sudden market drops."
He added: "We saw independent retailers leading the charge with fairer pump prices appearing all around the country which eventually forced the supermarkets to finally implement a more substantial cut late last Friday afternoon. What ought to have happened is that the biggest retailers cut their prices more significantly on a daily basis, given the wholesale price of petrol has fallen steadily over the last eight weeks."
At their worst, prices reached 191.53p for petrol and 199.07p for diesel. Since then, Tesco has cut the price of petrol by 6.5p and diesel by 4.5p per litre, while Asda has slashed prices by 5p for petrol and 3p for diesel. Sainsbury's has reduced fuel prices by an average of 5p, and rival Morrisons has cut prices by an average of 6p.
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