Supermarkets are “taking advantage” of drivers by charging “far higher” fuel prices than they should be, a motoring services company has said.
The RAC accused the UK’s biggest fuel retailers of refusing to lower their pump prices despite a drop in wholesale costs. It said supermarkets’ profit margins are around 15p per litre for petrol and diesel.
This means customers are being charged an “unnecessarily high” average price of 161.0p per litre for petrol and 184.4p for diesel. This is only 2p per litre lower than the average for all UK forecourts.
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Supermarkets normally charge around 3.5p per litre less than the UK average. RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “With many people struggling to put fuel in their cars, it’s very sad to see the biggest fuel retailers taking advantage of their customers by charging far higher prices than they should be.
“This is unfortunately a perfect example of prices falling like a feather, the opposite of them rocketing up as soon as the wholesale price rises significantly."
Latest Government figures show the average price of a litre of diesel is 188.9p, while for petrol it stands at 164.4p per litre. It comes as the extra cost of diesel compared to petrol has reached a new high of nearly 25p per litre.
Analysis by the PA news agency found this is the largest price difference in records dating back to June 2003. Diesel has typically cost around 5p per litre more than petrol since then.
The Manchester Evening News has compiled a list of the cheapest petrol pumps in each borough of Greater Manchester. The data is sourced from PetrolPrices.com, which covers major service stations including brands like BP, Shell, and Texaco as well as supermarkets, smaller chains and independent stations.
The website combines price data from Catalist with its own crowdsource data, which comes from website users and forecourt owners. The site says it hopes to have "the most up to date and reliable price data across the industry".
Cheapest unleaded petrol and diesel pumps across Greater Manchester
Bolton
Petrol
1. Sainsburys Bolton, 156.9p
2. Morrisons Bolton Dawes, 159.7p
3. BP Bridgeman Place, 161.9p
4. Shell Chorley Old Road, 161.9p
5. Shell Kay Street, 162.9p
Diesel
1. Sainsburys Bolton, 178.9p
2. Morrisons Bolton Dawes, 182.7p
3. BP Bridgeman Place, 185.9p
4. Esso Bradford Street, 186.9p
5. Shell Chorley Old Road, 186.9p
Bury
Petrol
1. Tesco Bury, 157.9p
2. Esso Bolton Road, 162.9p
3. Esso Rochdale Road, 167.9p
Diesel
1. Tesco Bury, 182.9p
2. Esso Bolton Road, 185.9p
3. Esso Rochdale Road, 189.9p
Manchester
Petrol
1. Asda Eastlands, 157.7p
2. Esso Ardwick Green South, 161.9p
3. BP Chancellor Lane, 162.9p
4. Gulf Barlow Moor Road, 165.9p
5. Shell Kingsway, 168.9p
Diesel
1. Asda Eastlands, 180.7p
2. Esso Ardwick Green South, 185.9p
3. BP Chancellor Lane, 186.9p
4. Shell Wilmslow Road, 187.9p
5. BP Didbsury Road, 187.9p
Rochdale
Petrol
1. Asda Rochdale, 157.7p
2. Morrisons Rochdale, 157.7p
3. Gulf Rochdale, 161.9p
4. Texaco Halifax Road, 163.9p
5. Shell Queensway, 164.9p
Diesel
1. Morrisons Rochdale, 182.7p
2. Asda Rochdale, 183.7p
3. Shell Yorkshire Street, 187.9p
4. Shell Queensway, 187.9p
5. Gulf Rochdale, 189.9p
Tameside
Petrol
1. Sainsburys Ashton Moss, 153.9p
2. Asda Ashton-Under-Lyne, 154.7p
3. Morrisons Dunkinfield, 155.7p
4. BP Ashton-Under-Lyne, 161.9p
5. Shell Stockport Road, 161.9p
Diesel
1. Morrisons Dunkinfield, 176.7p
2. Sainsburys Ashton Moss, 177.9p
3. Asda Ashton-under-Lyne, 179.9p
4. Texaco Stamford Street East, 189.9p
5. BP Ashton-Under-Lyne, 191.9p
Trafford
Petrol
1. BP Chester Road, 162.9p
2. Shell Sale, 162.9p
3. Esso Stockport Road, 164.9p
4. Esso Bradfield Road, 168.9p
5. Warburton Service Station, 169.0p
Diesel
1. BP Chester Road, 187.9p
2. Shell Sale, 187.9p
3. Esso Stockport Road, 188.9p
4. Esso Bradfield Road, 189.9p
5. Esso Dunham Road, 193.9p
Oldham
Petrol
1. Esso Oldham Road, 155.9p
2. Tesco Oldham Chadderton, 158.9p
3. Sainsburys Oldham, 159.9p
4. Tesco Oldham Huddersfield Road Extra, 159.9p
5. Shell Park Road, 161.9p
Diesel
1. Sainsburys Oldham, 181.9p
2. Tesco Oldham Chadderton, 181.9p
3. Esso Oldham Road, 181.9p
4. Tesco Oldham Huddersfield Road Extra, 183.9p
5. Shell Park Road, 186.9p
Salford
Petrol
1. Texaco Broughton Lane, 159.7p
2. Sainsburys Salford, 159.9p
3. Tesco Salford Extra, 161.9p
4. BP Wellington Road, 161.9p
5. Shell Cromwell Road, 162.9p
Diesel
1. Sainsburys Salford, 181.9p
2. BP Wellington Road, 181.9p
3. Tesco Salford Extra, 182.9p
4. Texaco Broughton Lane, 184.7p
5. Texaco Salford, 184.9p
Stockport
Petrol
1. Asda Reddish, 157.7p
2. Texaco Sandy Lane, 159.9p
3. Tesco Stockport Extra, 161.9p
4. Texaco Shaw Heath, 161.9p
5. Esso Wellington Road, 161.9p
Diesel
1. Texaco Sandy Lane, 179.9p
2. Asda Reddish, 181.7p
3. Tesco Stockport Extra, 181.9p
4. Esso Wellington Road, 183.9p
5. Esso Wellington Road South, 188.9p
Wigan
Petrol
1. Asda Wigan, 157.7p
2. Warrington Road Service Station, 157.7p
3. BP Whelley Road, 157.9p
4. Tesco Hindley Extra, 157.9p
5. BP Scot Lane, 159.9p
Diesel
1. Asda Wigan, 180.7p
2. Warrington Road Service Station, 180.7p
3. Tesco Wigan Extra, 180.9p
4. Tesco Hindley Extra, 180.9p
5. Esso Woodhouse Lane, 182.9p
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