The price of petrol at the pumps is creeping up again, putting paid to hopes of the £1 litre.
The average cost of a litre of petrol is now 108.28p – almost 2p a litre more than this-year’s February 1 low point of 106.39p, the AA said.
Diesel is now averaging 115.06p a litre compared with 113.42p on February 1.
The AA said that at the start of this week it was still possible to find petrol selling at 103.9p a litre in many built-up areas as supermarkets and some non-supermarkets delayed the price rises.
But the AA added that drivers started to complain as prices at some forecourts rose 1p a day in quick succession.
The only good news for road users is that petrol in mid-February 2015 is still cheaper than the mid-January average price of 108.91p a litre, while diesel is still less expensive than the mid-January price of 116.11p.
Northern Ireland’s average of 107.6p a litre for petrol is currently the cheapest in the UK, while drivers in Wales and the West Midlands are paying most, averaging 108.6p a litre.
Diesel is least expensive in Northern Ireland, averaging 114.2p a litre, while it costs most in East Anglia, at 115.6p.
The AA said its members’ suspicion that pump prices would quickly start going up appeared well founded.
Last month a quarter of AA members said they were still keeping a tight lid on car use despite the low prices.
Today AA president Edmund King said: “While the focus was on the remote possibility of a £1 a litre for petrol, motorists bitten by years of severe price volatility and having a little more sense continued to drive cautiously.
“UK petrol consumption has remained lower than when it was 13p a litre more expensive.”
He went on: “There is hope that the price of oil will settle back to around 50 dollars a barrel. However, the lesson of 2009 is that, apart from a short period of falling prices in the summer, the cost of petrol maintained a gradual climb through to the May of 2010. Today’s MPG misers may yet have the last laugh.”
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