Cost of living crisis: Peterborough fuel retailers not charging 'fair' price despite fall in wholesale costs

Peterborough fuel retailers are not charging a 'fair' price for petrol and diesel, according to the RAC – despite a fall in wholesale costs.

Wholesale fuel costs have fallen significantly in recent weeks after prices in the UK reached record highs of 191.53p per litre for petrol and 199.07p for diesel recorded in the first week of July.

However, Peterborough’s forecourts have not adjusted their prices in accordance with the fall in wholesale costs and are not charging customers a ‘fair’ price, according to the motoring company.

Based on the latest wholesale fuel prices, the RAC estimates a ‘fair’ price for petrol is 174p per litre, while diesel should be priced at around 189p per litre.

This factors in the wholesale cost to retailers, a 7p per litre margin, and VAT.

Peterborough’s current cheapest retailers, as per comparison website Confused.com, are Morrisons, in Lincoln Road, and the Jet Werrington Service Station, in Lincoln Road.

Both stations are charging 181.9p per litre for unleaded petrol – over 7p more expensive than the RAC’s estimated ‘fair’ price – according to prices on 28 July.

For diesel, Peterborough’s cheapest forecourt is also the Jet Werrington Service Station, according to Confused.com, which is charging 191.9p per litre – over 2p more than the ‘fair’ price.

The RAC’s survey revealed that only 10 per cent of UK filling stations have reduced their prices to a ‘fair’ amount.

Of the 4,500 forecourts in the survey, only 157 are charging between 170.9p and 179.9p for petrol, while only 250 are charging less than 189.9p for diesel.

Last week, the AA said that prices should fall by up to 20p per litre to reflect the wholesale price cuts.

The RAC say current petrol prices should have already dropped by around 16p per litre in recent weeks, but have only fallen by 5.5p since surging to record levels in early July.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “Following seven consecutive weeks of wholesale prices falling, we’re relieved to see the supermarkets finally reducing their prices a little. Sadly though, the UK’s biggest fuel retailers aren’t cutting their prices at the scale they should be.

“The weekly delivered wholesale cost of petrol has dropped by a huge 19p since early June, from 151p then to just 132p last week. Yet on average, supermarkets have dropped the price of a litre of unleaded by just 5.5p since the record highs of early July.”

Supermarkets traditionally charge the lowest prices for fuel, which are typically around 4p per litre lower than the national average.

However, supermarket prices are currently only 1p per litre lower than the national average, and the RAC’s survey revealed that independent sites are now more likely to be charging less than the average.

He added: “We continue to call on all major fuel retailers to go much further in reducing their prices in the coming days to ease some of the burden on drivers during what is the costliest summer ever on the roads.”