Britain’s major supermarkets have brought some much-welcome relief for millions of motorists by reducing the cost of unleaded and diesel fuel.
The latest round of cost-cutting was sparked by Asda on Friday (November 4). The supermarket chain slashed the price of fuel at its 192 filling stations by 2p a litre, bringing the cost of petrol down to 128.7p a litre – its lowest level since February – and diesel to 136.7p a litre.
Asda said its income tracker showed transport costs continued to be the main pressure on household finances, with families £15 a week worse off than this time last year.
Tesco followed up by announcing fuel price cuts of up to 2p a litre and further promotions that it claims can save customers a further 15p a litre on fuel, while Sainsbury’s also knocked petrol and diesel prices down by up to 2p per litre in many of its stores.
Luke Bosdet of the AA said the reductions reflected a 4p drop in the wholesale price of petrol, driven by the fall in value of the euro over the summer.
“Throughout the whole of the summer petrol prices have followed the fortunes of the euro: when the euro improved, petrol prices increased,” he explained
“Now things are coming to a head with the euro and we have the end of the Libyan crisis and the pound strengthening. That is worth about 3p-4p at the pump.”
